Dark Destiny: Chapters 1-12.
by TEMBWBAM
Summary: Hi guys. Uh...I'm back ( explination inside.) here is Dark Destiny Chapters 1-12 to give to you before I start on the new chapters, which I'll get up in a few. o_O


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Hi, Incognito here. It's been a while, 3 months, since I uploaded any new chapters for this. I've been away for personal reasons...a lot has been going on, but I'm ok now, and I feel up to writing again.

For those who haven't read any of my chapters in this series, here's the full shabang, from Chapters 1 - 12. Also, you can search for my name **"Incognito"** to search for the chapters for these fics. 

So here you go. It feels good to be actually working on this. Still, I should have the next part up in a couple o' days. Later!

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Chapter 1: The Liberation of Folder

The fight had been intense. The court side of the castle was littered with the bodies of the soldiers had fallen. Most of them had simply taken flight. Nevertheless, it was just the DigiDestined and their Digimon against their not-so-greatest enemy, Mammomon.

Mammomon chortled, his huge green belly bouncing like a bowl full of..well you know. He wasn't that impressive looking for a Digimon. In fact, he looked like King K-Rool, a big fat ugly lizard with a green belly and an exorbitant tail. But while he was big and slow, he was powerful in his own right. The continent of Folder had been terrorized by this great big glob for the past year before the DigiDestined got a wind of his evil deeds. Now it was him against a group of young kids and their very large, very dangerous Digimon.

Well, excluding Patamon, who hadn't transformed yet.

Again, Mammomon chortled "Gwfa ha ha. You stupid, silly, annoying, hateful-"

"May I suggest, 'persistent', 'brave', hmm, maybe frightful." Tai put up to the large Digimon, his large funky hair swaying in the wind.

"Add COCKY to that you bastards!" Mammomon shouted. "And you can add DEAD! You hear me? Dead! As in 'not living', which is what YOUR going to be! Why? Cause I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" And with that, Mammomon lunged forward, which is quite hilarious seeing a big fat Digimon do.

Of course, however funny MetalGreymon thought this was, he certainly wasn't going to let anything happen to Taichi-san. The huge dinosauric Digimon rammed Mammomon full in the chest with its metal plated shoulder, knocking the fat Digimon aside.

"Ahhhhh CRAP!!!" Mammamon shouted, and a wobbly purple ray shot out of his tail headed straight for MetalGreymon. "Take this! **Poison Boo**!"

Yes, that's right. He said _Poison Boo_. Sigh. Well it was a nice try, but One Garurukick from WereGarurumon sent the purple bolt careening into a barricade. "I think we've heard enough out of you," the wolf grumbled. "Let's take him out."

The DigiDestined stood watching and commanding their Digimon. Tai, Matt and Sora held the front, while Mimi, Joe, Kari and Izzy took the flank. While this was happening, Matt held his little brother, T.K. close to him.

"Boy this guy stinks. I think I'm tired of him" Takeru sniffed at the fat Digimon. His eternal buddy, Patamon hovered just over his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it T.K." Matt soothed, " this guys not gonna bother any of us any more" With a pat on Takeru's head ( Well, actually that enormous hat of his. ) Matt yelled at WereGarurumon "Come on! Finish this!"

"You got it!" But before WereGarurumon could attack, Mammomon leaped into the air, sumo style, and prepared to crush WereGarurumon flat as a bug.

"Wha!?" Yamato gulped, but it was too late, the fat Digimon landed with full force on his best non-human friend.

"WA HA HA! I told you I'd kill you! One down, and…uhhh" Mammomon proceeded to count on his fingers "four, five..umm there are eight of you right? BWA HA HA!"

"Oh no!" Takeru yelped. Patamon suddenly wore a determined look on his face, and flapped his ears to take this fat bastard dead on. At least, he was going to, but Yamato held him back and flashed him one of his patented cool smiles.

Takeru was wondering what was up with that, when he saw the Digiglob lift up from his flat position. With a small grunt, WereGarurumon easily lifted Mammomon into the air. Then, looking at MetalGreymon and Garudomon, threw him into the air with lightning speed.

"**BladeWing**!" Garudomon shouted.

"**Giga Blaster**!" Tai's dinosaur-like Digimon yelled.

With these commands, a rush of power surged through Garudomon's body, and a blaze of energy rushed out of her body screaming towards the now falling Digimon. Similarly, the metal plates on MetalGreymon's chest open and flashed with a brilliant light. A pulse of pure white energy blazed towards Mammomon, and if one looked closely, one could swear he/she saw two grinning missiles riding the end of that blast.

Or not, the fact was that the two immense energies nailed Mammomon square in the chest. He seemed to distort a bit, while in mid-air. Then he yelled and continued to fall.

"Which one of you guys want to finish this jerk?" Tai grinned at the back row. Joe still seemed nervous that this threat wasn't going to be taken care of. Izzy looked at Mimi, then at Hikari. "Come on guys, we don't have time to pull straws here!" Tai said.

"Oh pooh!" The pretty Lillymon exclaimed. "I'm so tired of this boob I'll finish him myself." Leveling her arms at the falling jerkmon, she extended her petals, and a powerful green light began to grow. "**Flower Cannon**!" She yelled, and with that, a green orb blasted out of her hands, pushing her back with the force of the shot.

The blast shot through the air, and before he knew it, blew a hole right through Mammomon. His eyes bulged out in surprise. "Y-You JERKS! This was my kingdom! I built it on the backs of others! It was my brilliance! What gave you the right to interfere!!" He was nearing the ground now. " You! You Digimon should be praising me, applauding me!"

"I think you deserve a round all right" WereGarurumon growled. "A round-house KICK!" Despite the lame joke, WereGarurumon came through on his word, as Mammomon reached the ground, the Wolf Digimon bounded into the air and connected with a devastating roundhouse with his right foot, completely dissecting Mammomon in half.

"Aww Craaaaaaaaaap--*" Mammomon yelled as he fizzled away from existence. Joe sighed with relief, and Mimi giggled. The mini-war was over. Mammomon's tyrannical regime was no more.

The DigiDestined, being much to modest to accept the crowned jewels and mother-of-pearl the grateful people-ah-Digimon of Folder were trying to reward them with, instead opted for a warm bath , meal and bed. Especially the meal. They were growing kids after all. After waving goodbye, the continued on, their destination? File Island.

While on this journey, they decided for a break. They were all in high spirits for their decisive victory against Mammomon. Their Digimon were becoming stronger, and they had been making better decisions. All of them were smiling and laughing. All of them, that is, except Takeru, who had a pensive look on his face.

"Hey what's the matter buddy?" Tai asked. "You should be happy, we got rid of that big jerk for ya." He grinned ecstatically.

"Yeah I guess." T.K. said. "It's just, well how come you wouldn't let me fight?"

Kari and Sora turned to face the conversation, while older brother Matt stepped in. "What are you talking about T.K.? You could have stepped in anytime. You're not the only one who didn't get to fight Mammomon. Zudomon, MegaKabuterimon and Angewomon didn't get a chance either." He explained "The point is, we got rid of him, and we weren't hurt doing it."

"Yeah but, those guys had the chance, they just didn't want to." Takeru complained. " I don't think I had a chance. It was like you were holding me back."

"What, us, hold the mighty Takeru back? Not a chance. Wild horses cou-" Taichi said, trying to lighten T.K. up, but he was interrupted by Matt, who held a hand up as if to say, 'Um, Shut up.'

"I really don't know what you're complaining about, T.K. Why are you in such a hurry to get hurt?"

"I wouldn't have gotten hurt!" T.K. complained further. "I could have beat him. Angemon would have walloped him!" Patamon smiled and nodded his agreement.

"That's true" Mimi chirped in. "Angemon is pretty strong. And have I mentioned how much I love his hair?" Joe sighed (again) and Izzy chuckled, clacking away on his Laptop.

"Well" Matt hesitated, "next time, OK?" And patted T.K. on the head, as if to end the little argument.

Of course, little Takeru wasn't satisfied with this. Sora caught on to this and walked over to him. "You'll be the first in line next time." She said, nudging T.K. with her elbow.

"Heh Heh. Yes. I am sure Patamon will be roaring to go." Gabumon chuckled. Everyone laughed at that one, even T.K. and Patamon, albeit weakly. In fact, deep in the recesses of Takeru's young mind, he was wondering if Gabumon, and indeed, the rest of the group, were actually making fun of him.

************

Deep in an unknown underground palace, Dawoemon had just gotten news of Mammomons death, and had been crying ever since. She locked herself in her chambers and weeped. It didn't seem possible. First her dear friend Devimon, then her fling Etimon had been killed by them. She had grieved the loss of those two, and was still anxious about the whereabouts of her friend Myotismon *. 

* I guess Dawoemon would be a bit surprised to learn he's now DEAD! Bwa ha ha!

Now Mammomon.

Two weeks earlier, her Automomons have gotten wind of the news that the DigiDestined were on their way to stop the reign of terror in Folder. She had pleaded with Mammomon to leave and hide while they battle was going on. Anyone who could destroy Devimon and Etimon had to be dangerous. But Mammomon, being proud and pig-headed, vowed he would destroy those stupid kids if they even tried.

Now he's dead.

Dawoemon sniffed and got up from her green sheets. Green was, after all her favorite color. Perhaps it was because she was a plant. Tall and slender, with several limbs for arms and legs, and breast plate accentuated with a sapphire gem. Along with her long slender hair that went down to her shoulders, large eyes, small nose, and pouting lips, one might even consider her attractive. Except for one little thing. What could it be..oh yeah. She had murder on her mind. Dark, ugly, violent murder.

She sniffed again and brushed a tear from her eye. These children were too powerful to go up against head to head.. She would have to find another way to kill them, and kill them she will. Mammomon was the closest thing to an uncle Dawoemon had had. Now he's gone, and he would be avenged.

Dawoemon had found a way to do it to. She had her Automomons keep an eye on them ever since the fall of Mammomon's kingdom. Her answer lied in doubt, in anger and in despair.

Her answer did lie, in young Takeru.

* * *

Chapter 2: Little Boy Lost.

T.K. kicked a rock. Then he kicked another one for good measure. Patamon watching this decided to try to give this 'rock kicking' thing a try. He did, and hurt his stubby little 3-toed foot. Well, no matter what kind of mood Takeru was in, he wasn't gonna sit by while his poor friend winced in pain, so he went to soothe him.

Something was nagging on T.K.'s mind. He didn't really know what it was. He knew Matt and the others wouldn't deliberately make him feel bad, but he couldn't figure out why he did feel bad. Maybe it was the weather. He could be homesick. Yeah, maybe that was it. He missed Mom and Dad. "_I guess…that could be it_." Takeru thought to himself, stuffing has hands in his jackets big front pocket.

__

"I mean.. they wouldn't try to make me feel bad on purpose."

Now it was Patamon's turn to take care of his friend. He knew when T.K. was feeling down, and he knew that he was doing so now. "Don't worry Takeru-san," Patamon thought to himself "I'm gonna cheer you up. I just need an idea."

The DigiDestined were strolling in one of the Digiworlds many forests. This one inhabited with digi-animals, birds, bugs, snakes. Oh yes, snakes. Seems Mimi had an encounter with a snake she'd rather not talk about. It seemed one green and yellow snake had silently slithered its way up Mimi's body to her shoulder. Mimi, none the wiser, giggled and looked coyly to her right side, thinking somebody was playing around. On her right side, Joe and Izzy suddenly went very pale.

"Mimi, I think it'd be a good idea not to move." Izzy said calmly.

"Why? Is there something you want to tell me, Izzy?" Mimi asked, who knew what she was thinking. She stopped smiling, however, when she heard an abrupt hiss next to her right ear.

"Oh my Gosh! Mimi!" Palmon exclaimed, green eyes bulging in fear.

Mimi's face sort of went pale to at this point. In fact, you could have mistaken her for Casper the Friendly One. Suddenly out of nowhere, with a yell, Joe grabbed a stick and whacked the snake clean off Mimi's shoulder.

*The snake was later reported to be recuperating nicely and is predicted to have a nice normal life =D.

Everyone stared. Joe suddenly wore a huge sweatdrop on his face. Mimi clapped her hands together. "My hero!" She let out. Then laughed and thanked Joe sincerely.

"Yep, that's my Joe. Always taking charge." Gomamon said proudly. 

"Wh-Wh-Wh- What was I thinking!??" Joe yelped "I could have gotten bitten! That snake could have bitten Mimi. I-it-I.."

"Great warriors do not think Joe," Taichi said, slapping him on the back. "They act! Are you sure there's not some Samurais blood in you somewhere?" Tai grinned largely, and the others got a good hoo-ha out of it.

Hikari glanced behind her and saw T.K. being slow with his walking…and thought he might need some company. She started back when Gatomon purred "Hmm, I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he might be staying back because he wants some time alone." Said Gatomon in that purely cat-like tone of hers. "Don't you think it might be a possibility?"

"I agree that it might be a possibility." Kari concurred, "But I also think that it might be possible that he's got a cramp, or maybe indigestion. In any case, nothing that says I shouldn't go and see him." And so she did. Stepping backwards until she was in pace with Takeru.

"How ya doing?" Kari asked sweetly. T.K. didn't say anything. But he did kick a rock. "Hmm," Kari said. " I bet you're upset about something."

"I'm not upset about anything." T.K. countered.

"You're not?" Patamon said, sounding genuinely surprised. Gatomon gave him a look that signaled that he should stay quiet. Patamon pouted and decided to agree.

"No I'm not" Takeru answered. "I'm just thinking, that's all."

"About what?", Kari asked.

"Nothing." Came the classic reply_. "They wouldn't try to make me feel bad on purpose would they?"_ He thought. He looked over at Kari and wondered some more_. "Maybe, maybe I should ask her to make sure…maybe." _

With an exasperated sigh, he let out, "It's nothing. Forget about it. Come on Patamon, let's catch up with the rest of the group." And so he darted forward, leaving Hikari and Gatomon behind.

Kari stopped in her tracks and frowned. "I told you so, Mikari*" Gatomon purred, not bothering to look at the human. Kari gave her a tired look and shrugged, then she and the little cat-like Digimon went to re-join the group. 

*Mikari, Gatomons' little pet-name for Hikari. Misora, same for Biyomon. 

*************

Dawoemon stared through the pool in her waiting room. Through it she could see the boy and the girl talk to each other briefly, and then run forward. She smiled_. "Good. Have a little misery for yourself for a change."_ She thought pettily. 

She turned and gestured to one of her Automomons, which promptly bowed and took off into a dark hallway. Dawoemon smiled for the first time in what seemed to be a while. She had ordered the Automomon to make sure all of her sources were in place. They were needed if she was going to take advantage of this.

What '_This'_ was, was an opportunity for great power. Power not even the might of the Crests could withstand. She found it purely by chance, when an Automaton went to her with a report, and she heard something in it. Something that could mean, greatness, and power beyond imagining. However, she couldn't do it as she was now. 

Dawoemon smiled and touched a slim finger to her green lip. She was looking at the pool again, at the wavy distorted picture of the blonde-haired boy with the stark blue eyes, and the purely ridiculous semi-top hat.

She couldn't do what she needed, _yet_. But she conceded that it was time to set things in motion.

************

The DigiDestined were lounging. They had walked for several consecutive hours, and now decided it was time for a break. Though they were deep in the forest, as long as they were together, there was no problem.

"All right! I say we get some grub." Tai told the others.

"I hope you're ready for some real grubs, because that's all you're going to find here," Joe put to Tai mildly. " unless of course we hunt something."

"I'm sure we can find a lot of fruits and veggies to tie us up for the while." Agumon piped up.

"Are you sure?" Joe wondered. "What if you get lost?"

"No way," Gomamon exclaimed, "Not with our noses. You guys stay here, and we'll go get the food."

"Yeah, no problem" Biyomon agreed. It seemed like a plan. So all the Digimon, except Patamon and Gatomon, left to find food for the others. While the DigiDestined didn't like staying put while the others did the work, they were tired enough not to care right now.

Takeru suddenly got up and walked towards a bushy area. Matt, seeing this, got up quickly as well and asked T.K. where he was going.

"To the washroom. I'll be right back." T.K. told him.

"Want me to come with you?" Yamato said without thinking. He immediately regretted it, but the damaged was done.

"WHAT?" Takeru said, part shock, part anger registering in his voice, and on his face.

Matt fumbled. "Well, I -er"

"I think I can pee in the grass by myself Matt!" T.K. nearly shouted at his older brother, and with that, took off into the bush of the forest with Patamon.

"Smooth Matt." Taichi said, looking at him sideways.

"Be quiet." Yamato couldn't bare to look anyone in the eye right now. Kari looked sadly first at Sora, then at Gatomon, who answered her look with an equally concerned look of her own. 

************

After T.K. was finished with his business, he turned and stared into the bushes, where he knew the rest of the group was. Patamon flapped his ears noiselessly next to him. Takeru was clearly bugged by the way Matt had treated him.

"Well…" he grumbled. "It's not that big a deal."

"Let's go back Takeru-san." The little Digimon said. "Maybe the others came back with food! I'm starving." T.K., being a bit hungry too, nodded and started in the direction he knew the others were at.

After five minutes of walking, T.K. stopped and stared at Patamon. He had only moved a few feet from them. He was close enough to hear them talking, yet now, he couldn't find them. 

"I, I don't get this Patamon." T.K. told his flying friend. " We didn't got that far. I knew it was this way!!" a tinge of panic began to infect Takeru's voice.

"It's OK Takeru-san." Patamon soothed. "We- We'll find the others. Let's just keep going this way." Truth be told, Patamon was probably more frightened than T.K. Well with nothing left to do they walked.

And walked.

And walked.

Until five minutes later, they stopped dead in their tracks. "I don't believe this!" Takeru cried. "Maybe Matt was right, he should have come with me. I can't even pee in the bush. I can't believe I'm lost!" tears started to glisten the edge of T.K.'s blue eyes. Patamon darted back and forth nervously.

"You're not lost. Far from it." A smooth voice called from the darkness.

T.K.'s head shot up and looked around. "Who said that!?" he asked. 

Patamon darted closely around Takeru's head. "Yeah! Show yourself!"

Out of the darkness of the forest slid a tall woman, except she wasn't a woman. She had several arms, and no feet, just what seemed like roots, and long green stringy hair. She smiled at T.K. and put her hands up as if to surrender.

"You're not lost at all" The Digimon told him. " In fact, you could say you've finally been found."

* * *

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Chapter 3: Fallen Angemon

Mimi let out a blood-curdling scream. Matt and Tai jumped, Sora bounded from the log she was sitting on, holding Hikari. Joe fell backwards, being startled from his position. Gatomon flashed her deadly claws. Izzy started forward then sat back, seeing what the problem was.

Mimi was trembling, holding her left arm outstretched as if it were diseased. She wouldn't even look at it. "Get…it…off!" She managed to squeeze between grated teeth. " Somebody get it off now! " She asserted.

"Wh…what is it" Tai asked. Then Koushiro got up from his cross-legged position and walked over to Mimi's side, reached down, and plucked the rather large caterpillar that had found a nice little sleepy spot on her arm.

"You know Mimi," Izzy started in his matter-of-fact tone, " most insects are more dangerous _after_ they leave their pupil stage. " He stared at the wiggle-bug with a little fascination.

"A Caterpillar?!" Joe breathed. "Jeez, I thought it was Myotismon's bigger badder brother or something!"

Matt and Tai visibly relaxed, and Sora laughed along with Kari. Gatomon murmured something about silly humans and went back to her guarding post. Mimi looked at Joe with indignation. " As far as I'm concerned it might as well had been Myotismon's bigger badder brother. At least I can handle him. But.." She looked again at the squirming little creature stuck between Izzy's fingers. "Ewwww!!!" 

Izzy glanced at Mimi sideways and looked at the Caterpillar. "Actually, bugs like this are an excellent source of protein." Izzy put to her. "Of course, the bugs with the hard exoskeletons are much better." With that, Koushiro lifted the struggling caterpillar to his mouth.

"You wouldn't!" Mimi glared

"Why not?" Tai joked, grinning. "Whatever doesn't kill him can only make him stronger."

Mimi wouldn't have any of that. She got up and slapped the caterpillar out of Izzy's hand *. Then he gave Koushiro a little knock upside the head for good measure.

__

*Ouch, another one. Well this one reported to be resting comfortably, and is predicted to do the whole miraculous butterfly thing =D

"Ow! What was that for?" Koushiro asked, rubbing his head. Mimi didn't give him an answer, and instead stuck her tongue out at him. Joe chuckled, and Sora thought it was pretty funny too. She smiled, until she happened to look at Yamato, who had a big frown on his face. Sora's smile didn't last long.

Matt caught Sora looking at him and explained. "T.K. still hasn't come back yet." He started towards the grassy area T.K. had gone before, and then stopped, staring into the dark forest.

"Maybe he had to go for a number two." Mimi suggested, putting up two pink-gloved fingers to accentuate her point. 

"And how long would that take?" He asked Mimi, rather harshly even. "He's been gone for nearly ten minutes."

"Maybe he wanted some time alone. Relax, he didn't go far, I heard him talking 5 minutes ago." Taichi said. He wasn't too concerned yet. After all, he had just gone to use the bathroom. " The other Digimon should be back soon, they'll probably bring him with them."

Yamato looked at his feet, lost in thought. Sora sent out her agreement with Tai and the others relaxed. The other Digimon should be back soon. Takeru was probably with them.

************

"Who are you?" T.K. demanded the tall plantlike woman who stood in front of him. She merely smiled and put her hands higher.

"I am called, Dawoemon." She said simply.

Takeru blinked. _"Wow. It's never that easy in the movies."_ He thought to himself. He decided to try some more. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to see you."

"What do you want!?"

Dawoemon smiled and bowed her head. " I simply want my Savior, and the Savior of the Digital World."

Takeru blinked again. This time he was totally confused. What in the world did she mean by savior. T.K. blinked a couple more times. He was feeling…strange.

Patamon gave the plant-mon a bad look. " You better not try to hurt Takeru-san," he said fearlessly. "Or I'll hurt you! I will, just try me!"

"Why in the Digital World would I want to hurt that who will save us all?" She said melodically. She batted her eyes once at Patamon and then looked at Takeru… who seemed to be staring into space.

"No, don't hurt her Patamon," Takeru said. "_Yet_. She might be a good Digimon." He hesitated for a second and faced his winged friend. "Maybe we should go back and tell the others about her." He said, apparently completely forgetting that they were lost.

"You could tell them Takeru-sama, but I don't think they would believe you," She mused. " I doubt they'd even care."

Takeru circled at Dawoemon with a dangerous look in his eyes. "What do you mean by that?!" He demanded. "They would SO believe me!"

"And they'd certainly care." Patamon added.

"I didn't mean to anger you Takeru-sama." Dawoemon bowed lower. "It's just, well it seems rather obvious what has happened with you and the other so-called 'DigiDestined'."

T.K. didn't even ask how Dawoemon knew about them being the DigiDestined. All Takeru thought was how this Digimon seemed to know stuff. Maybe answers. Answers to questions that were, for some reason, burning through him.

"W- what's happened between us?" Takeru asked. 

Patamon stared at T.K. in disbelief. "Don't listen to him Takeru-san!" He said. "This ones a liar!" He turned to face Dawoemon again, angry eyes glistening.

"What has happened, Takeru-sama, is the DigiDestined not recognizing your true power." She put to him gently. " Not bothering to recognize it. Not even bothering to recognize you."

T.K. stammered as if to say something, then stopped. He stared at the plant-mon and started laughing. "You dumbass!" He laughed. " What're you talking about? They recognize me. They recognize me and Patamon"

"Do they?" She said softly.

T.K. stopped laughing. _"They wouldn't try to make me feel bad on purpose, would they?" _He thought again. "You'd better start making sense, or Patamon will pound you!"

"Forgive me, Takeru-sama." Dawoemon bowed even lower, which is easy when you're a plant. " I was just saying what I knew to be true. I know they don't recognize you. They refuse to, If out of nothing but pure spite." She fixed her green eyes on Takeru. " They hate that they don't have your power. "

"Heh. We all have power, just different kinds. We used our power when we fought the others." Takeru explained lightly. He looked at his flying orange friend. "Remember when we beat Devimon. They were all congratulating and everything. We were the best." He smiled, but out of the corner of his eye, he thought everything was somehow getting…darker.

Dawoemon winced slightly at the mention of Devimon's name, but continued simply, " They humor you."

T.K. smiled "What does that mean? They make me laugh?" Yes, it certainly seemed like everything was getting darker. Maybe it was becoming nighttime…

"It means, they keep you happy only to satisfy their needs." She put to the boy. " In fact, you could say it's a form of mockery. They mock you, Takeru-san. This you do not deserve."

Takeru frowned and shot a look at Dawoemon. Patamon flapped silently next to him. Yes, it was very obvious now that it was getting much, much darker.

************

Biyomon soared overhead and bomb-dropped a pile of mango's oranges, fruits and berries around Sora's head. She laughed gleefully as the other Digimon came back bearing loads of fruit. Judging by the size of their bellies, the Digimon had already started the feast without the humans.

Taichi smiled. "Well, better late than never." He thought, as he bit into a nice juicy pear-shaped fruit.

"Mmmm, Mmm!" Mimi mumbled. "This is good." Palmon nodded her agreement.

Yamato wasn't eating however. His eyes darted back and forth at the returned Digimon. "Where's T.K.?" he asked.

Gabumon stopped his feast and pointed his yellow horn at his friend. "What do you mean, Yamato-san?" He asked back.

Joe stopped eating. "You mean.. You mean he didn't come back with you guys?" He asked sternly.

Tentomon buzzed overhead. " I didn't even know he was gone." He said while stuffing a couple of berries into his mouth.

Yamato narrowed his eyes. "He went for a pee break." He said. " I thought he was supposed to come back with you. " He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fist. " Dammit. T.K."

Tai got up and motioned to the others. "Well the, let's go get him. He's probably playing or something." He picked up his bundle of fruit and gestured to Agumon. "Well? Come on! Bring the food and everything. Let's go."

He started towards the direction T.K. had gone. Matt followed. Mimi groaned and, after picking up her belongings, followed too. Everyone went into the dark forest, Izzy being the last in line. He picked up his Digivice and frowned. There was not a trace of him on it. Koushiro knew this wasn't a good sign.

************

T.K. was incased in complete darkness, but he didn't even notice. Surprisingly, neither did Patamon. All he could focus on was his beloved Takeru, and this strange plant-like Digimon with the serenading voice. He didn't know what to think of her words. All he knew was that he would defend Takeru with his life. He would protect him forever.

"What don't I deserve?" Takeru asked Dawoemon, who stood, partially, bowed in front of him.

"You don't deserve their mockery. Their jealousy." She whispered, her green lips weaving her dark power. " You don't deserve them _tolerating_ you, as if you were luggage. As if you were something to take out of a pocket and use, and then put away again, completely ignoring it." She pointed at the small object tied to Takeru's backpack. " Like your Digivice." She added.

T.K. glanced back at his Digivice than sneered at Dawoemon. " We worked together." He said, trying desperately to believe his own words. " We've been working together ever since we destroyed Devimon. Etimon, Myotismon, we got them together. They weren't just using me."

Dawoemon's eyes widened in horror and the darkness around them began to waver, just a bit. _"Myotismon??"_ She thought to herself. _"Myotismon!??"_ She suddenly narrowed her eyes, and the darkness became blacker than it ever was before.

"Think back, Takeru-sama." She asked. " Think back to all of your…victories. Think of what they said. Remember, even now, after your win at Folder. Think of what happened."

T.K. thought back. He could remember nothing of celebrations. Matt, Tai, Sora, Mimi, Izzy, Joe, Kari, all smiling and happy. _"They wouldn't want to make me sad on purpose"._ The darkness grew blacker. T.K. remembered their looks. Where they…sneers? Were they looking at him through narrowed eyes? He conceded that his memory was fuzzy, and thought to the present. 

Mat holding him back. Why?

__

"Was he jealous?" He asked himself.

"They think of themselves, and only themselves. It started with your parents, splitting you in two. Forcing you to choose for their own benefit." Dawoemon continued.

When his parents were divorced. He remembered when his Father drove away with Yamato in his car. Now it seemed, he was laughing.

"It has continued even now, Takeru-sama" Dawoemon frowned "Even with the ones you trust most."

Sora telling him he'd fight next. Gabumon joking. Everyone laughing.

__

"Were they…mocking me?" He asked himself.

Tears glistened the edge of the boy's eyes. He wiped them away angrily, but more took their place. He shouldn't even believe what he was even thinking. The darkness continued to grow. Takeru felt a burning felt a burning against his chest. He went under his big green jacket, and pulled out his tag. It was holding the Crest of Hope, but something was wrong, it seemed to be wavering. 

"That! That is the true pinnacle of your power, Takeru-sama" Dawoemon said, pointing the glowing object. " That is why they mock you. That's why they are jealous of you! It's why the fear you." She frowned sadly at T.K.

"That is why they hate you."

Tears flowed down T.K's cheeks. He thought back to every moment in their life, and every doubt, every thought of insecurity he had felt with being the smallest, being the crybaby, being the weakest, being incomplete, flooded itself to the surface. Takeru cried. He cried because he knew for himself that it was the truth.

The darkness was complete.

Patamon growled and suddenly swelled to about twice his normal size. Aiming at Dawoemon, he held and then expelled with a loud "**Boom Bubble!**" Dawoemon slapped the sphere of air away with one of her limbs and walked towards the crying boy. 

She soothed. " It is ok Takeru-sama. You need only to trust in your own power." She held the crest in her hand, and the picture of the radiant sun beaming down on the earth wavered. It changed. "They've done this to you, but you don't need them. You are the true savior of the Digital World." The sun lost its radiance and lowered in the crest. The beam shifted upwards and split in three shards, and settled on top of the sphere. Dawoemon finished " You need only to trust in yourself, and the power of your Crest." She lifted the crest up to his face.

Takeru sniffed and held the crest in his hand. He knew already what it was, just as he knew everything else. He knew he was holding the Crest of Despair.

Patamon flopped to the grown, defeated and cried. Power surged T.K., and he wiped his eyes and stood. "What should I do? How can I save the world?" He asked.

"Come with me," Dawoemon smiled. "There is a way you can bring peace to the Digital World, once and for all. We must discuss and plan for is to be successful. Digimon must know that you are our Savior."

"All right" Takeru sighed and began to follow the plant-mon through the forest.

"Takeru-san!!!" Patamon shouted. "What about me!? Don't forget me!"

T.K. looked back at Patamon, his eyes dead. "Take care of yourself, Patamon." He said sadly.

Dawoemon smiled and gave Patamon a purely malevolent look. " I will protect Takeru-sama." She smiled at him.

"NOOOO!!!" Patamon screamed. His fur began to change a shade of gray, then white. " I WILL PROTECT YOU!!!" He burst out a flash of light filled the forest. Patamon began to digivolve.

But it wasn't a normal digivolution. It almost reminded Takeru of the time SkullGreymon came into being. Almost….

Light flashed again, and a tall figure stood in front of T.K. He stood well over 6 feet. The top of his face was covered with brown leather, with straps hanging at the ears. There were no holes for his eyes, but he could see everything. Black straps of a course material draped his body and his arms, and his clothes were tattered, as if lived in for a long time. His face was still handsome, but his hair had turned a stark black color. His right fist was gloved with leather, while his left had knuckle guards. On his back was strapped a short blade, and just above them, three white wings sprouted from his shoulder blades. Two of them were close together, not equidistant, just like the pattern on the Crest of Despair. 

T.K recognized him, even though he looked a bit different, there was no mistaking who he was. He was Angemon.

Angemon, fallen from grace.

"I will always protect you." FallenAngemon said in a quiet voice. Takeru smiled and they walked through the forest. Nothing but pure shock plastered Dawoemon's face.

__

"This might complicate things." She thought to herself. She frowned, and followed Takeru and his dark protector into the forest.

* * *

****

Part 4: Discussion in the Forest of Lost Souls.

The march through the forest had been a grueling one for Mimi. It was tough since the first tests. Snakes, caterpillars, birds and toads have been trying repeatedly to make her body a home, and she was just plain tired of it. That is why she took refuge between Joe and Koushiro, keeping in pace with them and making sure they took the brunt of whatever attacks the forest would take at her.

Her plan had worked. Even though Joe sweat nervously and Izzy rolled his eyes at the suggestion, they both went along with it, and flanked the young girl as they marched through the forest. But even though she was content, she was also dead tired. Everyone was. They had been marching through this unknown forest for the past hour, looking for little Takeru.

"Ugh." Mimi let out accidentally. Hearing the groan was enough for Tai. He turned around slowly and looked at the others.

"All right, I think that's enough for now." Taichi said. " I think we should rest for a moment and think about this. We're not gonna do any good if we're dead on our feet."

The others stopped, but Yamato kept forward, as if he didn't even here the young man's suggestion. Taichi grabbed his arm as he was going past him, and Mat shook him off violently.

"You wanna stay? Stay." He said. "I think I'm gonna go find my brother." He turned and marched forward.

"What, are you crazy?" Taichi countered, getting in front of him. " It's getting dark out! What are you thinking, that we should go look for you too?" His voice was raising in frustration.

Unexpectedly, Hikari stepped in. "No Tai, I think we should keep looking. Maybe he's nearby!" She put to her older brother. " We can't just sit here while he's lost. We have to go find him Tai!"

"And what are you thinking of doing?" Joe said quietly. " Are you going to go through an uncharted woods in the dark, maybe hope to bump into him instead of a tree?" He bent his knees and felt the pressure leave the balls of his feet. He adjusted his glasses and continued " That's not going to work. We can't smell him, and we certainly can't seem him now. We might as well stop and wait until it gets lighter."

Yamato's dark blue eyes grew wider at the thought. " So you're saying we should just sit here and sleep while an eight year old boy is alone and lost in the woods?" He shouted. " What the- , is that what I should do? Sleep here while my little brother is crying lost in the woods?" His voice rose with every word until Sora jumped in front of him.

"And what are you thinking, Mat? That if you yell loud enough T.K. will hear you and show up?"

"YES!!" He yelled. Then, when he saw the shock in Sora's face, he sighed and sat on the grass, head slumped.

Taichi watched the exchange with narrow eyes. He looked at his younger sister, and saw the fear and concern in her face. He sighed. "Joe makes a good point Kari," he said gently. " We can't do any good. We're tired, hungry, probably a little lost ourselves, and it's dark. We wont be able to find him tonight."

Kari's frown deepened and she looked down at the ground. Gatomon nuzzled next to her. "Don't worry, Mikari," she purred gently. "We'll find him."

"Gatomon is right." Gabumon told his depressed companion. Yamato said nothing, but hid half his face in the palm of his hand. 

Koushiro voice broke through the silence. "Actually, you're both right, " he started " ,because I know exactly where he is. And I know he's well." 

Well of course, everyone turned and stared at him. Kari frowned morphed into a large grin and Yamato stared incredulously. " H- How do you know?" He managed. 

Izzy Izumi started to explain. "Simple. I knew I couldn't track him with my digivice, but I thought if I plugged it into my laptop, and upgraded the signal-tracker, I'd find him." He gestured towards his computer screen. "And I did. It was pretty easy." Koushiro smiled as the DigiDestined crowded around his screen for a better look. 

On Izzy's laptop screen, they saw a digital map of the whole forest. There were seven tiny clustered lights blinking on the bottom part of the screen, and there was one beeping light that was halfway across the screen. 

"I estimate that T.K.'s about 10 Kilometers away, and still moving." Koushiro scratched the back of his head. "He's obviously well if he can still move for so long, but I'm still puzzled as to how he could have gone that far, that fast." 

"If you knew he was OK, why didn't you tell us?" Mat asked, feeling pretty foolish. 

"I was still setting it up. I'm not a miracle worker." 

" But you _are_ a genius." Mimi chirped. "That's great that you found T.K. Now we know where to follow him." 

Koushiro actually blushed at the complement, and Tentomon buzzed around his head, laughing away. 

"Yeah" Palmon continued Mimi's thought, as was her regular routine. " but I don't get how he could have gotten so far." 

"Maybe he grew wings!" Biyomon suggested. It seemed to be a fantasy of hers to see someone with wings, besides the angels that is. 

" Heh, Maybe" Joe said. " Or maybe he got a ride." 

"Whatever the case, I think it'd be a good idea to rest at least until sunrise." Taichi put the group. " We should prepare to search for him as soon as light breaks. Even if T.K,'s got a ride, it's gotta stop sometime." He looked to his blonde-haired friend, slumped against the tree. "You OK man?" 

"Whatever." Yamato grunted. He made no move to leave though. Even while the thought of T.K. being so far away from him grated at his conscience, he knew the others were right. 

Taichi sighed, and looked Sora. She sat down next to Biyomon. The others settled down as well. It seemed like the plan was set. They'd wait till Sunrise. 

************ 

The patch of weed T.K. and FallenAngemon had been riding seemed to blaze through the forest at an amazing speed. Takeru grinned. It was almost like riding a magic carpet…except without the flying part. Dawoemon piloted the moving piece of earth with a few looks in certain directions. At this rate, they'd be out of the forest in no time. 

She was pleased with the work she had done, but knew there was a lot more left to do. However, the appearance of FallenAngemon left her with a great discomfort. She had planned that she and the boy would be alone on this quest, that she would be left alone with him to further warp and contaminate his young mind. She had no idea that Patamon would suddenly be warped with him, and not only that, but Digivolve as well! Dawoemon frowned. This was a real kick in the pants. 

She glanced back at the tall dark angel and shivered. The power of the Crest of Despair flowed through both of them. She would need to take extra care in dealing with that one. 

Fortunately, she had an idea of how to do it, however, It would require a brief stopover. She put her mutli-limbed arms down and panted. Then turned to the two in the back. "This is far enough, I cannot go any further, Takeru-sama." 

"Aww" Takeru complained. "That was actually fun." He hopped off the grass and looked up at his fearsome protector. "Now what do we do?" He asked.

"We can have a camp-out , Takeru-san." Fallen suggested, smiling. 

"Cool, a camp-out! OK then, we'll have to make a tent…or some sleeping bags!" T.K. jumped off the patch of weed and starting searching for a suitable area to rest. FallenAngemon followed him wings shedding glistening feathers in the partial moonlight. 

Dawoemon stared at the two. She was flabbergasted. _"Can these two be the ones with the power? They're…..imbeciles." _she thought to herself, when suddenly T.K. stared at a bit of grass. A shock-wave burst out of his body, reverberating through everything in the area. Dawoemon shuddered, and saw that Takeru was now standing next to a carefully patterned sleeping bag, instead of the strip of grass that was there before. 

Dawoemon gulped. She made a mental note to keep her insults to herself. 

Fallen tucked Takeru into the sleeping bag, then settled into one himself. T.K. looked up at the plant-mon and asked "Well, you going to sleep?" 

"Uh, yes Takeru-sama." She said mildly. " But I need to sleep near that small patch of water over there. Have a pleasant evening." Bowing graciously, she left the two to their slumber. 

************ 

Dawoemon bent over the small pool of water and concentrated. The image of a white and black striped Automomon appeared. It bowed and waited patiently. 

"I will be going to Sector" ,she whispered quickly. " Send Celamon to meet me on the path." With a quick thought she added "And send several Automomons to the DigiDestined and have them attack. They should be weaker now that they are fewer in number." With that, the picture in the forest wavered and dissipated completely. 

Events were now set in motion, and the plant-mon hoped that they would lead to the ultimate end. With a sigh, Dawoemon leaned against a nearby tree, closed her eyes, and let the darkness consume her.

* * *

****

Part 5: King of Despair.

Palmon was having a tough time this morning. This wasn't a regular occurrence for her, because she was a plant, and such was always rejuvenated by the morning rays of the sun. Unfortunately, her friend Mimi wasn't such a morning person. Palmon dragged the semi-unconscious girl through the woods, following the rest of the DigiDestined. Yep…Mimi was absolutely not a morning person.

They had woken her up around 30 minutes earlier, at the crack of dawn, and had resumed their search for Takeru. Mimi groggily stumbled along, leaning on Palmons' back. The little Digimon didn't mind _too_ much… Mimi was, after all, her charge and responsibility. Still, at that moment, Palmon did wish there was an bucket of ice-cold water handy to use.

Koushiro led the rest of the DigiDestined through the forest, his laptop showing him the path to take. The blip that represented T.K. had just started to move seconds ago, and at a normal rate. Hopes were high that barring any interruptions, they would catch up to him quickly.

Yamato sauntered along, hands in pocket. He was feeling a bit better now that he knew where to find him, but he was still in a dark mood. His guardian Gabumon shuffled alongside him, glancing up at his charge now and again to check up on him. Suddenly he faced the front, startled.

Mat looked down at his horned friend. "Gabumon?" He asked. "What's wrong." He too looked forward and noticed that Izzy had stopped moving.

"Oh oh!" Tentomon gasped. " It looks like we have company!"

They group of kids and Digimon stopped and stared ahead. In front of them, four Digimon stood, hunched over, in a line blocking their path. These Digimon were striped black and white, white being the prominent color. Their faces looked old and lifeless, and their arms hung down, nearly touching the ground in length. They legs were shorter, much shorter, than their arms, and ended with large 3 toed feet. Tufts of Digi-hair popped out randomly on their body.* They stood in front of the DigiDestined and said nothing.

*Want more help? Think of them as very emaciated Eva 1's from Evangelion. =D

"Automomon!" Tentomon told the rest of the group. "They're ultimate zombie Digimon. Let's just say they've never won a contest on personality, or on beauty for that matter."

Taichi moved to the front of the group. "Company is right…" he whispered. Then addressed the 2nd Automomon in the line. "What do you want?" He asked.

The Automomon said nothing.

"OK…" Tai mused. "Let's try this again. WHAT, DO YOU," he pointed at the still figure in front of him. "WANT from us." Tai finished, pointing at himself and the rest of the group."

The Automomon didn't move nor did it say anything for half a minute. Then it's head moved up and looked Taichi in the eye.

"Die." It said, and it suddenly lunged at Taichi at full speed. Tai, shocked but still expecting an attack, dove sideways. The Automomons' hand lashed out and tore at Taichis' arm.

Tai's pupils shrank to a pin-drop and he stumbled to the ground. His arm was ice cold and a strange darkness started to take over his vision. The last thing he heard before he passed out was Sora, screaming his name.

************

Takeru skipped along the path with FallenAngemon in tow behind him. Dawoemon dragged along silently. They had finally departed the forest, and were now on a clear path on a grassy meadow. T.K. could see what looked like a stone wall, probably one protecting a town. He glanced back at the plant-mon.

"So, what exactly are we gonna do when we get there?" He asked. Dawoemon slumped slightly and sighed.

"Takeru-sama, please be patient." She pleaded, already tired of the boy's protestations. " We will be there soon, and the surprise will take place." She looked at the boy and gave a weak smile. "You will be well pleased with it." She finished.

FallenAngemon put a hand on Takeru's shoulder, stopping the young DigiDestined in his tracks, he then put his right hand up in the air, signaling Dawoemon behind him to both stop and be quiet.

T.K. looked around anxiously, wondering what the fuss was about. Both he and Dawoemon could see nothing. Everything was completely still. Takeru's heart raced, he was both scared and excited. _"Whatever happens, Fallen will take care of it"_ he thought to himself.

He barely finished his thought before a blur shot out from beneath silent patch of bushes. He saw the light of the sun glint off of a sharp blade. Then there was a blinding light, and then the sound of metal contacting metal.

************

The sound of violence broke through Tai's consciousness. He heard growls and shouts, and the sound of claws slashing and fur rustling. He blinked, once…twice, then shot up quickly. His right arm hung loosely to his side, ice cold. Angrily he got up and reached the others.

The Digimon had digivolved to their Champion levels, and were fighting heatedly with the soulless Automomons. Taichi found Greymon, lost and confused in the shuffle. "Greymon!" he commanded.

Greymon saw Tai standing and shifted into action. He swung around, nailing two Automomons with an orange and blue striped tail. One of them exploded violently into a nearby tree and slumped onto the ground. The other bounded of the ground on his hands, skidded into the grass, and leaped into the air. Greymon crashed into the ground as the little Automomon pounded into him.

The other Automomon that was had been attacked by Greymon shot up and started towards the struggling Dinosaur. White and blue fur blurred by Tai's vision as Garurumon viscously pounced on that one. He opened his mouth as if to bite into the Automomon's head. The zombie countered by holding Garurumon's jaws apart...struggling to keep it from coming crashing down on its head.

Garurumon's jaws stretched out wider and wider. Suddenly he laughed. "**Ha!** **Howling Blaster!**" He shouted mystically and a bolt of blue energy shot from his wide jaws, firing point blank at the Automomon's head, and blasting it clear off. Mat grinned and pumped his fist in elation.

His grin faded quickly however, when he found the headless Automomon still widening his friends jaws further and further apart. Garurumon's eyes widened in pain. The Automomon kept stretching it further and further. 

Suddenly a sharp pressure exploded on its right side. Then lower...then more to the left. If it still had a head, it would see Yamato pounding on the zombie-Digimon with a vengeful fury. Yamato yelled, as he crashed two, then three more punches in to the zombies' side. The Automomon finally released Garurumon, who slumped to the ground. With a quick turn, the zombie thumped it's chest into Yamato's head, knocking him down.

The short opening was all that was needed, as Gatomon flashed out of the left side, flashing her deadly claws. "**Lightning Claw!"** Burst from her mouth, and two sharp flashes of light appeared quickly in her area. Then she was just standing there. Yamato stared, jaws agape, as the Automomon suddenly burst into shreds. Gatomon turned, winked at the blonde-haired boy, and jumped back into the action.

An Automomon flared in the air, a steel punch headed straight for Mimi. She stood horrified, shocked in place. That is, until Koushiro jumped in and knocked her aside, right before a fantastic punch rocked the ground where Mimi was standing. 

The Automomon looked up at the two, emotionless and cold. It felt a tap on its shoulder and turned around.

"Hey tall, striped and ugly," The colossal cactus in front of it chortled. "Let's dance." And with that, Togemon snapped a right uppercut that stretched the neck of the zombie, smashing him straight into the air. It fell silently in some unknown part of the forest with a large thud.

Togemon stood their laughing and suddenly found herself in the air, a terrible pain exploding in her back. An Automomon had returned the favor, smashing her into the forest. It reared on Koushiro, who stood helplessly in front of Mimi. Joe suddenly jumped into the clearing.

"Hey! T-That's right! You there!" He cajoled the monster. " That's right. Y-you want a piece of me?" The zombie gave Joe a deadly stare and made a move A pressure blasted in its inside. It looked down to find a large and very sharp horn buried in its middle.

"Take that ya slug." Ikkakumon snarled, as it grew another horn. Joe sighed in relief, happy his plan had gone through. Then he saw the Monster with the harpoon buried in its stomach continue to move towards him.

"J-J-Jeez!" He stammered. "What's with them? They don't give up!"

Ikkakumon growled and burst out "**Harpoon Torpedo!"**. The horn buried in the Automomon's chest split in half, tearing the zombie apart, and frying it's pieces with a barrage of missiles.

The monster that was still pounding on Greymon was suddenly lifted off him by a huge electric sphere, as Kabuterimon buzzed into the dinosauric-digimon's aide. Greymon got up angrily, opened its' mouth and began to gather energy.

"You like that huh?" He snarled mystically. "Eat this. **Nova Blast!**" The shot of energy released itself from Greymon's grip, blasting into the zombies body and vaporizing it completely.

Sora, who was busy with an Automomon before, saw Taichi struggling to stay up. She started towards him. "Tai, are you all-" she began, before being accosted by the pieces of the zombie Gatomon had shredded before. The shreds knocked Sora to the ground. She frantically brushed them off, and ran towards Tai, the pieces in hot pursuit.

"**Meteor Wing**" a voice boomed. Birdramon unfolded her crimson wings and hurled several bolts of fire into the pieces, disintegrating them completely.

Mimi sighed in relief, the battle was won. Or at least she thought it was. The zombie that was knocked into the woods burst from the tree-line, and flew straight at the brown-haired girl. ( Yes they can fly too. ) A small figure also emerged from the tree line and leveled her hands at the speeding Automamon. 

"**Flower Cannon!**" Lillymon yelled, releasing a green burst of energy. It caught the Automomon square in the back and carried him straight into the sky. An explosion brightened the horizon a green hue, as the zombie was blasted into nothingness.

Taichi sighed and dropped down to one knee, favoring his right arm. He looked across the scorched battlefield, glad that his friends were still alive. 

"_What the hell was that?_" He thought solemnly to himself.

************

The flash of light departed, and Takeru saw Angemon holding his blade in a parrying position. The other Digimon flipped twice in the air and landed a meter away from the group.

T.K. saw him…or should I say, _her_ clearly. She was short… short as Koushiro Her body seemed to be contained in a sleeveless jumpsuit ( not unlike Wizardmon ) that was dotted with 3 huge circles down the middle. Her arms were thin and blue, and her right arm featured an stone-encrusted bracelet and the short blade she was carrying. Her face, pretty for a Digimon, was dominated by her two huge green eyes, and small mouth, which now was turned in an angry frown. Tufts of Digi-hair came down from her head, falling over her eyes and just past where her ears would be ( If she had ears.) Two grass stems grew from the top of her head, and two useless gossamer wings grew from her back. 

She bent at the waste, watching FallenAngemon with a steel gaze. "You're fast." She said simply. She flipped her blade to the opposite direction, and circled the group.

Fallen simply stared. Then he smiled and sheathed his blade. "You're OK." He said smiling, wavering his fingers to make his point.

The shorter Digimon growled and seemed to wink out of existence. Suddenly she appeared behind Takeru, pressing her blade to his throat.

"What are you doing!?" Dawoemon shouted. Her eyes widened and she went silent.

Takeru whined and began to cry. Fallen's smile grew wider. "What do ya want?" T.K. asked, flashing a small grin. "Why are you doing this?"

The Digimon sneered. " Do I need an excuse?" She countered. She looked up at Fallen. "You there, don't attack, or the boy dies."

Angemon smiled turned into a full-fledged grin. "OK." He responded. "I wont fight now."

He looked down at the boy. A large grin appeared on Takeru's face, and the power of the Crest of Despair flowed through him.

With a burst of power, the Digimon was blasted off T.K.'s back. Before she could recover, Fallen was on top of her, his blade at her throat. Her eyes grew wider in terror and she gulped. 

"Well, what should I do with her, Takeru-san?" FallenAngemon asked.

"Kill her!" Dawoemon shouted quickly. Then, with a look from T.K., shut her mouth.

"What do you think we should do Fallen?" The boy asked his dark protector.

Fallen hesitated and looked at the Digimon at his mercy. She did not tremble, and seemed ready to die at that moment. He turned his head slightly. "Maybe we shouldn't…" he managed.

"OK!" Takeru said lightly. He walked up to the Digimon pressed to the ground. "What's your name?" He asked, feeding a bit of his power into his voice.

"Celamon." She responded quickly.

"I'll let you live, if you promise to serve me." Takeru said smiling.

Celamon gulped and glanced over at Dawoemon. The plant-mon wouldn't look at her. She sighed and gazed up at Fallen. "I will follow you." She then said to T.K.

"Good!" He laughed. "Let's go." And with that, Fallen got off her and rejoined Takeru's side. Celamon got up nervously and asked. "Where...where is it we're going…" hesitating for a name.

"T.K." The boy said.

"Takeru" Fallen continued.

"Takeru-_sama_" Dawoemon finished.

T.K. looked at both of them with annoyance and then turned to the pixie-mon. "I don't know where we're going. Ask her." He gestured towards Dawoemon.

"We're going " Dawoemon said. " , to give you , your kingdom."

************

Taichi shuddered for a while, and felt Sora's hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right Tai?" She asked, a small tremor in her voice.

"Does he look all right?" Yamato countered, looking down on his friend.

Taichi got up and put on the biggest grin he could muster. "What, are you talking to me?" He asked incredulously. "I'm fine, I say our bigger concern is getting out of here before more of those Automomons show up." Beads of sweat were appearing on Tai's head.

Mat scowled. Taichi put up his bravest front. Sora got up angrily. "Oh yes," she said, wiping a large pool of sweat off Taichi's brow. "You're perfectly fine. Why don't you fess up? We can't help you if you don't let us." 

Tai looked at her, then the others. "It's just hot!" he lied. "And I've worked up a sweat. Come on! Stop lolly-gagging. Let's move!" And with Agumon in tow, he started into of the forest.

The others followed him as well. Koushiro hesitated a while, then opened his laptop and typed a quick message. He had a feeling he needed as much information as he could get.

Taichi led the others deep into the forest, shivering slightly. His right arm was completely lifeless, and an eerie cold started creeping into the rest of his body. He wouldn't tell the others, because he was their leader, and he had to be strong. A part of him however, wanted at least somebody to know, someone to comfort him.

In his mind, Taichi was almost certain that he was dying.

* * *

****

PART 6: My Kingdom for an Nintendo 64

Mimi—er I mean Gennai _( Thought I was going to start with Mimi again, didn't ya? )_ leaned back on his hickory chair and sighed. His muscles ached…his muscles always seemed to ache these days. Sometimes he would long for the days when he was younger, spryer, able to leap…bound…perform magnificent feats of strength and daring…

Then he remembered that he was a lot dumber in those days too. A lot more headstrong. He smiled and decided being old wasn't completely the pits after all. Besides, the world now lay in the hands of those a lot younger than he is right now.

As if on cue, a signal beeped inside Gennai's head. He bent down and touched the square tile next to his chair. The tile lightened as words began to scroll across his vision.

"Ah! An e-mail from young Izumi." Gennai smiled. Then his smile faded as he continued to read its words. "Oh no…" he mumbled.

Gennai got up from his relaxed position, stretched, and jumped off the roof of his house, landing softly. He then went inside to write a response. He knew time was of the essence.

************

The DigiDestined had stopped their travels again. Taichi was obviously too sick to continue. They had stopped briefly for a snack, and Tai had thrown it back up. He told them that it must have been some sort of allergy or something.

Sora fumed, and forced Tai to stop moving and to stop his ridiculous fronting. Now he sat limply next to an old oak tree, perspiring heavily. His skin was becoming strangely pale. Taichi still managed to argue that it was just something that would pass.

Yamato frowned, bent over, and picked up a small sharp shard of wood. He jabbed it into Tai's right arm, drawing blood. Taichi didn't even notice. What scared Mat more, though, was the viscous blue fluid that seeped from the quickly healing wound.

"Jeez" Yamato breathed. He looked at his friend and shook his head. "You're in trouble, you know that Tai? What an idiot." He frowned. " You might have even dropped dead while we were walking. What the heck's wrong with you? Why didn't you tell us?"

"Nah…nothing…" Tai tried to speak. He was feeling very cold, and unspeakably drowsy.

"Just shut-up Tai!" Sora told him. "You should know by now we're not going to believe anything you say." Then she saw Taichi nodding off and began to gently slap his face. "Oh, no Tai. Try to stay awake." She pleaded.

"It's ok, " Agumon piped up, a quiver in his voice. " Look he- he's still breathing."

"Yeah!" Mimi added. "Maybe we should let him rest, like it might pass on." 

Koushiro sat off in the grass, hitting the refresh key of his keyboard time and time again. He was waiting for a response to the e-mail he had sent earlier. He knew one would come, but time was rather important right now.

"Anything?" Tentomon asked his charge.

"No, nothing yet." Izzy answered simply. "I know it would have reached him instantly…I just hope he can send a response."

Suddenly Sora screamed. Izzy's head snapped up in response. "He's not breathing!" she yelled, frantically slapping Tai's face, trying to resuscitate him.

Yamato had brushed her aside and begun to pump Tai's chest with his fist. He didn't seem to be responding. Kari fell into Mimi's arms, not able to look at what was happening to her brother.

Koushiro's eyes widened, then he heard the familiar beep-ring he was hoping for. He looked down at his laptop screen and saw the response message addressed _to "Koushiro 'Izzy' Izumi"_ from _"Gennai"_. "Yes" he breathed. "This is it."

He clacked on his laptop, ignoring the commotion happening around Taichi. He read the message quickly and suddenly stopped…his eyes widening in certain horror. "Tentomon!" he screamed. The Digimon flew to his side and was given instructions by the frazzled computer-genius. Then Tentomon buzzed away into the distance.

Izzy stared at his screen some more, then he suddenly remembered what was happening. He turned around and found Mat beating on Taichi's chest with frustration. Sora covered her mouth with her hands, shock registering on her face. Joe Mimi and Hikari sat clustered together…the older of the 3 trying to console the younger two. None had any idea of the grave danger they were in.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Koushiro screamed at the top of his lungs. It was too late. Mat choked as Taichi's hand quickly came up and clutched his throat. With an unknown strength, Tai lifted Yamato clear off his feet. Tai got up slowly, his eyes still closed, his skin parch white with black veins shooting around. The other stared in horror.

Tai's eyes suddenly opened. They were blood-red. He flashed a deadly smile at the others, and began to choke the life out of Mat.

************

T.K. FallenAngemon, Dawoemon and Celamon now neared the plant-mon described as the Digi-town of Sector. The stopped just a few meters from it's gates.

Takeru was understandably nervous. He had never taken over a town before. He wondered if it was like stealing hotels in Monopoly. He looked up to FallenAngemon, who just shrugged.

"So, um, what am I gonna do in there?" Takeru asked the plant-woman standing next to him.

"As I see it, Takeru-sama, you will hardly have to _do _anything." Dawoemon mused. " Just walk in and proclaim yourself as the savior. Once the realize who you are, they will go out of their way to help you out."

Celamon let out a rough "hmph" behind the two. T.K. snapped his fingers. "OK!" He said enthusiastically. "Come on Fallen!" and with that, started towards the city.

"NO!" Dawoemon stretched her arms out in front of them. " No, uh, Takeru-sama. The proper way would be to head right towards the city palace, and declare yourself there!"

"Oh." T.K. frowned. Then he thought. "Well, wont people try to stop me?"

"_Try_ is the right word, Takeru-san." Fallen added.

"If its going to be done, let's do it already." Celamon added impatiently. T.K. looked at her and she stammered. "I-If it is your will T.K.-sama…I mean, Takeru-san!" She blurted.

Fallen let out a quick laugh and Celamon fixed him with a deadly stare. T.K. smiled. "Yeah, you're right Celamon. Let's go." Easy as that, Takeru and the others began their takeover of the city of Sector.

Sector was a small, merchant oriented city. All sorts of Digimon milled around in there. There were Kuwagumon and Gekkomon, plenty of those Digimon that had worked for Etimon were there too. Just hanging around, exchanging, trading. None of them looked twice at the 3 strange Digimon that had entered the town, but all eyes lingered at the small blonde-haired boy who was leading them.

Finally the reached a large palace at the north end of the city. Huge knight-like Digimon blocked the entrance. A plate on the brick wall read "Mayor"

"Is this where the King lives?" T.K. asked. The knights looked at him strangely in response.

"There is no 'King' yet Takeru-sama." Dawoemon corrected mildly. "You will be the new king once you take over."

Those words startled the knights, and they brought their huge lances down, pointing at the boy. "What exactly are you thinking of, rat?" One of the knights boomed.

Then he was down, unconscious. Fallen stood between the two knights as they slumped to the ground. His movements were to quick to follow. All that was known is that he had taken them down without breaking half a sweat. He gestured towards the staircase that led inside the palace.

T.K. grinned and nodded. Celamon gaped at the tall angel, then closed her mouth in a tight frown and followed. Dawoemon followed lastly. She smiled_. "Their power was amazing",_ she thought to herself. _"The city will be mine without much delay."_

************

Taichi got bored of choking Mat to death, and released him. Mat's body hit the ground with a thud and he slowly got up, clutching his neck. A trickle of blood flowed down his nose. He wiped it away angrily. "Tai…" he started.

"I said GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Izzy shouted. He bounded of the grass and pushed Sora out of the way of a devastating punch. The attack nailed Koushiro in the ribs, and he rolled by, clutching his side in pain.

"Tai!" Sora cried. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Koushiro scraped through clenched teeth. "That _isn't_ Tai!"

The others stared as Taichi looked at each and every one of them with bloody eyes and an eerie smile. He seemed to be choosing who to attack next. He gazed at Mimi, huddling his terrified sister. He smiled at that and passed on to Joe, who was looking at him, Gomamon growling at his side.

Taichi found that extremely amusing and passed on. He then fixed on Sora. Hey eyes widened in recognition and backed away two steps. Tai followed forward two steps. Biyomon suddenly hopped in front of her terrified charge.

"Not another step, Tai" She threatened.

Tai grinned and continued to press forward. Biyomon didn't budge, but instead began to glow.

Agumon knew what was happening and stared at the ground. He wasn't able to Digivolve, and wouldn't be able to protect Tai from whatever Biyomon decided to do to him. He couldn't look at what was happening beside him.

Biyomon had completed her transformation into the huge winged terror known as Birdramon. Tai seemed to find this hilarious and continued to move forward. "Stop!" Birdramon boomed. "Don't come any closer Tai, please!" she pleaded.

"Listen to her Tai!" Sora yelled. " I don't know what's happened to you, but please listen!"

Tai smiled at the suggestion and leveled his arm at the huge bird. It began to glow with a blood red light. Birdramon suddenly folded her wings, and power began to coalesce in her. "I'm sorry Tai!" she boomed, as she unfolded her wings.

Tai fired.

Birdramon fired.

And so did Kabuterimon, right in the center of their blasts.

The explosion rocked both combatants away from each other. Kabuterimon buzzed above Tai and released 4 arm-full of a strange soil. Tai was flattened to the ground as the soil buried him. His smile disappeared, replaced by a look of pure rage.

"Yes!" Koushiro breathed. He turned to Agumon. "Now, Agumon! If you know what's good for Tai, you'll set that mess on fire!" He yelled.

Agumon stumbled and stammered. "But…but Izzy, I can't…"

"DO IT!" Izzy commanded. Agumon didn't think. He fired a **pepper breath **on the pile of dirt and soil that covered his DigiDestined.

An eerie scream parted from Tai's lips, and Agumon could only stare in stark panic, as his beloved Taichi started burning in front of his eyes. 

************

Takeru and gang had reached the top floor of the palace pretty easily. After the guards, no one bothered to get in his way. Finally he knocked on a huge double plated doorway and let himself in.

Inside, a servant-Digimon called Tyumon sat behind a desk. He was the mayor of this town, as Tyumon's usually serve as public servants. He stared at the boy in panic. "What are you doing?" he gasped.

"Wow!" T.K. thought aloud. "This is a big room! Much bigger than my room back home." He hopped on top of the desk and looked the other Digimon in the face. He looked like a penguin, complete with black fur suit and bow tai, with tufts of hair coming from the top of his head.

"Hi!" Takeru smiled. "I'm the savior of the Digiworld, so I need to be King here." He looked up at the plant-mon behind him and asked "Is that right?"

Dawoemon smiled and looked at Tyumon. "Remove yourself" she commanded simply. "And tell the other Digimon here that Takeru-sama is the new king."

Before she could finish her order, the sounds of many guards thrumming up the stairs came to her ears. They turned around and saw a bevy of guards, armed to the teeth, preparing to remove them from the palace-office.

T.K. made a move to use his power, and FallenAngemon tensed, ready to strike. It was all a moot point however, as Celamon bounded in front of them. She began her attack.

Fallen stared. Celamon stretched her mouth further and further open, more wider than he thought was possible. Her usually pretty face was suddenly 2/3rds mouth, gaping wide, showing rows upon rows of deadly teeth.

Celamon yelled mystically through her gaped maw "**Hells Toll!**" and an explosion of sound and force was directed at the guards marching towards the entrance-way. T.K. was rocked back to his bum, and Fallen was pushed back a couple of inches. Dawoemon smiled knowingly.

The guards in the entrance-way were devastated. Most of them were simply blown back. Some were actually disintegrated on the spot. All were utterly defeated.

Celamon's mouth suddenly shrunk back to its normal petite size. She turned around and leveled a smile at Takeru. "I told you I was on your side." She said quietly. Then she turned to FallenAngemon. "Not bad eh?"

Fallen grinned. He waved his hand and said simply, "eh. Okay." Celamon's small smile quickly turned into a frown as she directed a growl at the tall angel's grinning facade.

T.K. turned around to Tyumon and smiled. "Can I be King now?" He asked. The bird-like Digimon sighed and left his seat, leaving it to Takeru.

"Yes." He said defeated. "I will declare you as the new King."

************

Taichi had been burning for several seconds now, but his skin was taking no damage. Instead a green mist seeped from his pores and escaped his body. Suddenly his eyes widened and he jumped out of the burning pile of dirt.

"YAAAG!" He shrieked, rolling on the ground to put out the small flames. He jumped up angrily, steam coming out of his ears. "All right! Which one of you jokers set me on fire! Gahh!" He pointed his right arm at Agumon accusingly. 

"Darnit Agumon! I told you never to do that!" He scolded. "Jeez, how many times do I have to tell you, I'd go up like a Roman Candle!"

"Tai!" Sora breathed. "Your arm!" Taichi glanced down at his right arm and noticed he was actually using it. His skin had returned to a healthy color. He patted himself down as if to check for himself. 

"Hey, what do you know?" He grinned. "I'm alive." He was suddenly mobbed by Hikari, who knocked him down to the ground, hugging him fiercely.

"Prodigious!" Koushiro grinned, rubbing his ribs. " All thanks to Gennai. I told him what had happened with us and the Automomons. He said that if you had been cut by them, you were infected by their virus." Izzy gestured at the burning pile of soil and continued. "He said you'd become an Automomon and try to attack us, and that the only cure was the burning scent of this type of soil. We were lucky Kabuterimon was able to get to it so quickly."

Tentomon blushed. "No autographs, please." Mat rolled his eyes and smiled.

"That's my line, you!" He said. Then turning to Izzy asked. "Good work. Hope you're OK."

Koushiro nodded. "I'm fine. Forget about it." He looked down at the map on his laptop. "Now we can actually continue are real goal, and find T.K.. According to my map, he's settled down right in the middle of this township."

Gatomon looked at the map that flashed on the screen. "I know that town." She purred. "That's Sector. I wandered around there for a while, when I was still searching for Mikari." She glanced at Kari, still hugging Tai. "It's a gathering place, really. I even saw the mayor, he's not too bad."

"Heck." Tai said, trying to peel his little sister off him. "T.K's probably just waiting for us to go pick him up." He said grinning.

Hikari released her older brother and stood. "Well then, let's not keep him waiting." She put to the others. Gatomon leaped to her side as she started towards sector.

Taichi patted Yamato on the shoulder, oblivious to the fact that he had tried to choke him to death moments earlier. "See buddy," he told him. " I told you it was nothing to worry about. Piece of cake."

"Yeah," Yamato muttered. "Piece of cake." However, for some strange reason, he wasn't too sure.

************

T.K. sat, positively tiny in the oversized chair that was brought to him. Everyone in Sector knew that he was the new King. He assured them that they could act normally. That all they had to do was to be prepared to do whatever he told them. He was instructed by Dawoemon that this was the first step to saving the Digital World.

Still, that was all nice and good, but he'd like something to play with. "Man, I wish I had my Nintendo 64 here." Takeru sighed. " I wanna play some games. This is so boring."

"Games, T.K-san?" Celamon asked incredulously.

"Yeah!" Takeru bounded up and stood on his huge throne. "Games! _Like Super Smash Brothers_! I remember when I played that at home with Mat…" he stopped suddenly, and all the joy washed away from his face. T.K. tried to remember what it was like to play with him, and remembered only taunting and ridicule, and the occasional pity as Yamato let him win a game and sneered at him. T.K.'s lips formed a grimace, and he stared darkly into the unknown.

Celamon glanced at both the boy and his dark protector. Angemon scowled too, his glare seemingly powerful enough to melt rocks. She excused herself and left the two to their anger and despair. She frowned, it didn't seem…right for some reason. She shook her heard, and disappeared into the hallway.

************

Dawoemon took in the surroundings of her new chambers. It was pretty empty, only a bed and a mirror. It was all she needed to relay instructions for now. Besides, she mused, it would only be some time before the decorators came and turned this into a real palace.

She smiled. A knock on her chamber-door brought her out of her thoughts. "Enter." She said simply. The door opened slowly, and a meek Celamon entered the room.

Dawoemon didn't mince words. She hauled up and slapped the smaller Digimon square in the face. Celamon winced and covered her left cheek…not able to look the taller Digimon in the eye.

"You listen to me, and you listen well." Dawoemon snarled. "When I give you instructions, you follow them out. No ad-libbing, no modifying, no changes of any kind. Do you understand me?" 

There was no response. She grabbed the younger Digimon's face in between her hand and squeezed painfully. "Do you understand me?" She repeated.

"Yes, mother." Celamon said quietly. "I understand fully."

* * *

****

PART 7: REUNION

To say that Celamon was dumbfounded by the new King of Sector and his protector would be a great understatement. She just couldn't figure them out. It's almost like they weren't who they put forward to other people. As if it was all just a strange act.

Just this morning, T.K. and FallenAngemon were sitting in the Throne Room, musing about their newfound freedom. Takeru suggested to the dark angel that they were now free to do things that they weren't able to do before.

"Exactly what do you mean, Takeru-san?" Fallen asked the young King.

"Well…"T.K. hesitated. Then a huge grin took over his face as he looked up at his companion gleefully."…Well we can say bad words now, and the others wouldn't be able to scold us!" T.K. told him.

"You wouldn't!"

"Yeah I would!" T.K piped up. He looked around the room, seeing only Celamon stare at them in certain uncertainty. Then he leaned close to FallenAngemon and whispered. "_Damn_" And began to laugh hysterically.

FallenAngemon grasped his mouth in shock, and of course, to stifle his laughter. " I can do one too!" He boasted. Then he leaned close to his charge's ear…and after a moment of thought whispered "_booger_".

T.K. frowned, looking a bit disappointed. "That's pretty lame Fallen." He chastised his friend. Fallen's smile faded, and Takeru patted him on the arm. "You gotta do something like…_crap_." T.K. giggled, and the laughter started again.

Celamon stared incredulously. They were children, both of them. The little one had taken over the entire city just a few days ago…and now he was giggling at the word 'crap'. She almost understood the boy's mood-swings…but she couldn't understand his protector's.

She gazed at him again, laughing away with the little boy. She couldn't understand him. One minute, he would fight as if he was 1000 years old, with all the wisdom and grace that came with age. The next minute, Fallen would be acting like an 8 year old, suggesting bad words to say, or nice games to play. Celamon couldn't figure out for the life of her why he was so strange that way.

She also, for the life of her, couldn't understand why she couldn't get FallenAngemon off of her mind.

She shook her head in annoyance, and added. "If you two are finished being _bad_, I've got some real work to do." And with that, bowed briefly and left the room.

FallenAngemon looked at her as she left. The Digimon was certainly no fun, he thought. Still, there was something about her.

************

The DigiDestined had finally reached Sector. There were no other attacks or delays to get in their way. The walked in wonder, looking at the surroundings of the colorful, but strangely subdued town.

The other Digimon of the town stared too, not at the 7 small Digimon that had entered the town, but at the strange looking creatures that they followed.

"Geez," Tai whispered. " You think they never saw a human before."

Joe moved in next to him. "How many humans do you think they get as tourists a year, Tai?" Taichi scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly.

Matt looked around cautiously, looking for any sign of his brother. Koushiro suddenly noticed why the looks were so strange. " I think they're staring at us because they _have_ seen people like us before!" He said to the group.

Mimi's eyes suddenly brightened. "Maybe T.K!"

Koushiro nodded. "That's what I'm hoping."

Kari came up and pulled her older brothers arm. "Listen. I heard them talking about someone. They said Mat looked like the 'new Stranger'." She told him.

Taichi turned to a Digimon and began to ask about T.K. The Digimon cowered back from him and took several steps in the opposite direction.

"You'd better ask the King!" One of them said quickly. No one was able to discover who actually had said it.

"King?" Yamato thought aloud. " Gatomon, you didn't say anything about a King."

Gatomon shook her head. "There wasn't one, last time I checked." She purred. "But then again, it _was_ a long time ago."

"Well let's go check it out" Hikari said, and with Gatomon beside her, headed for the North end of Sector. The others followed, until they reached the gates to the large palace.

Two huge guards ( the same ones FallenAngemon had trounced a few days ago ) stood in front of them and boomed simultaneously "STATEYOURBUSINESS!"

The DigiDestined looked a bit stunned. Then Taichi smiled. "We're here to see the King." Tai said. "We bring many gifts of um…insight and wisdom."

"I have a few rotten candy bars" Mimi piped up behind him. "If he likes that sort of thing..." She leaned down to Palmon's head. "And he probably does." She whispered. Palmon stifled a laugh.

Yamato didn't feel too much like mincing words. "I want to ask him about my brother!" He told them, ignoring the pikes they had pointed to his head. "He looks like me, except shorter. He has a big green hat on…"

The guards suddenly began sweat in realization, and they stood rigidly at attention. "NOONECANPASS!" They told them.

"You'd better let us pass!" Taichi threatened. "…or…or Agumon here will eat you! And he will, he's pretty hungry!"

"I am?" Agumon asked. Then he snapped to attention and added "Oh yeah, I am! And you look pretty tasty to me." He said, eyeing the guard on the right, licking his chops at the same time.

"He's bluffing." The one guard whispered to the other.

"Sora?" Biyomon asked sweetly. "Can I eat them too? It's not fair that Agumon gets all the fun."

"Well…" Sora smiled. " Let's ask Tai. Tai dear?" She asked extra-sweetly.

"Sure!" He exclaimed. "These two look hearty enough for all of them." He grinned loudly.

"Great!" Gomamon added. " It feels like I haven't eaten in weeks!"

The guards started to sweat some more. "The-they're just bluffing." The one whispered to the other.

"Koushiro-san, I'm going to start. Is that OK with you?" Tentomon asked the child prodigy.

"Of course, I don't see why not." Izzy smiled. And with that, Tentomon digivolved into Kabuterimon, slobbering intently, gazing at one guard and then the other. "I hope you know how insects eat." Izzy told the guards. " They puke out acid and dissolve you, then they suck you up.

The guards began to tremble. "They're just bluffing." The said simultaneously.

Following Tentomon's lead, the others digivolved as well. Greymon, Birdramon, Ikkakumon, Togemon and Garurumon looked at the two guards with hunger in their eyes.

Gatomon grunted in disgust. " Ugh, that's gross." She walked up to the guards and flashed her claws. She smiled. " At least let me start off first. There will be equal pieces for everyone, I assure you."

"Fine, go ahead…" Garurumon growled at the Kitten. " but be fair! I'm watching you!" He winked.

The guards ran off.

Taichi and the others burst out laughing. " Now there's a tactic we should use more often!" Joe smiled.

Tai looked back at the others and swung his arm. "Well then, now that that's taken care of, let's go get T.K." And with that, the DigiDestined started up the stairs and into the palace walls.

*************

Celamon had been beckoned into Dawoemon's chambers. Obediently, she came, head down, into the room of the older Digimon. Dawoemon simply pointed at the mirror she had mounted on the wall.

Celamon's eyes widened in recognition. She turned to the taller Digimon. "The DigiDestined!" she breathed. "W...where are the Automomons?" The other Digimon said nothing. "Aren't we going stop them??" She asked frantically.

Dawoemon put a hand up to silence her. " We don't need the Automomons. " She said simply. There is someone much more powerful than them that will take care of those children for us."

Celamon frowned, and looked at the doorway out of the chambers. It was completely blocked by huge weeds and vines. It was obvious Dawoemon wasn't going to let her out to help Takeru. She sighed. It looked like she had front row tickets to what was sure to be, a horrific show

************

FallenAngemon's head snapped up in alert, and he peered at the doorway to the courtyard of the Throne Room. Takeru had been nodding off, he had not been sleeping too well lately. He looked at his dark protector and yawned.

"What's the matter, Fallen?" he asked groggily. Fallen looked at him and smiled, shaking his head.

"It's nothing, Takeru-san." He lied. He looked at the huge wall that separated the Throne Room from the courtyard. It didn't look like any sound would escape from one room and into the other. This was a good thing, Fallen decided.

"Go back to sleep, Takeru-san." He said, and walked towards the entrance. Takeru nodded off again, back into a disturbed sleep.

Fallen frowned and unsheathed his blade. They were here, and he would die before he let them harm T.K. again.

*************

The DigiDestined were walking through a large courtyard. They had seen a few Digimon during their ascent, but they didn't make any move to attack. Perhaps it was the look of the 6 huge Digimon and the one small one that made them decide it wouldn't be smart to attack.

Mimi glared around, disapprovingly. "Whoever their personal decorator is…" she began "…they're being wayyyy overpaid for this. Nothing but gray and green. I haven't seen anything so depressing." She sighed.

"Green is T.K.'s favorite color." Matt mused quietly. Then he suddenly stopped and stared ahead.

"Yamato-san?" Garurumon growled. Then he two looked ahead. The rest of the DigiDestined and their Digimon stopped in their tracks.

In front of them stood a Digimon, around 6 feet tall, with long black hair, a mask covering the top half of his face, and 3 shining wings sprouting from his back. He looked eerily familiar.

"Angemon?" Mat whispered. "But…that can't be right."

"Can it be another Angel-type Digimon?" Taichi asked silently.

The Dark Digimon stepped forward and looked at each and every one of the Champions. Then he visibly relaxed and sneered. " Leave." He commanded. "Now."

The others were shocked. "It sure _sounds_ like Angemon." Mimi said, inching nearer to Togemon. " I wonder what happened to his cute golden hair? Well, I guess we all need some changes every now and the-"

"Be quiet." The Digimon growled. Mimi yelped and took a step back. " On and on like a Parrotmon!" He looked at the others. "Get out! Or are you deaf too?"

Togemon took a step forward. "You don't talk to Mimi like that!" She boomed. "Apologize, or I'll pound ya." She put of her gloved fists as an indication of what was to come.

The Digimon just smiled. At that moment, a look of pure terror took over Gatomon's face. She got in front of Kari protectively. "T-That's not Angemon!" She gasped.

The other Digimon's smile grew even wider, and he seemed to disappear. His action was too fast to follow. Togemon's stomach exploded in pain as the Digimon fired a wicked punch to her midsection.

Mimi stared in horror. Togemon seemed to be shocked in place, but finally the impact of the blow registered, and she was flung back 20 feet, blasting into the east wall.

The Digimon straightened and looked sideways at Taichi and Yamato. He then looked at their Digimon, seemingly sizing them up. He sneered again. "She's right. I'm not Angemon. If you must know my designation, call me Fallen." He turned and faced Mimi. "FallenAngemon."

Mimi looked at the frightening figure in front of her, then looked at her friend, struggling to get up after that one attack. Suddenly, Mimi reared up and slapped Fallen in the arm as hard as she could. " I don't care what your name is!" She yelled, tears filling her eyes. ", nobody hurts my friend like that!" She slapped him again and again.

Fallen got bored and nudged her away. The simple blow took Mimi back several feet and Joe had to catch her as she stumbled to the ground. She looked up at Fallen fiercely, tears flooding her eyes, and the Crest of Sincerity began to glow.

Lillymon bloomed from the body of Togemon, stronger than ever. Tai turned to the others, "Get them to Digivolve!" He yelled. The Champions glowed and transformed. MetalGreymon, WereGarurumon, Garudomon, MegaKabuterimon, Zudomon and Angewomon stood, surrounding the dark figure standing calmly before them.

FallenAngemon smiled, and appraised Mat and Tai's Digimon, ignoring the rest. Then, nodding quickly, he winked out of existence. Tai started. "Watch ou-"

It was a credit to Taichi, for him to know what was coming, but he was far too slow. Fallen reared and gave MetalGreymon a devastating roundhouse kick that sent him flying towards the far side of the courtyard. In the same movement, he elbowed the unsuspecting WereGarurumon in the chest, sending him hurtling back in the opposite direction.

Angewomon stayed by Kari protectively. She just kept whispering something again and again. Kari stared at the fight and looked at her brother. Koushiro suddenly exclaimed. "He's been corrupted!"

The others looked at him as the battle continued. Izzy explained quickly. "His file has been corrupted. He's basically become 'evil'! And he's obviously more powerful!"

Yamato gritted his teeth. "He must have been the one holding T.K. hostage" ,he assumed.

Angewomon looked at the DigiDestined frantically. "We must go!" She hollered, holding on to the wild-eyed Hikari.

"What about the others?" Sora cried out. 

Taichi looked back at MetalGreymon. He let out a fearsome roar and turned back towards FallenAngemon, anger flashing in his eyes. He leapt towards the dark angel as if to impale him with his massive horn. 

Fallen put his hand up and stopped the attack in its tracks, skidding backwards slightly as he took hold of MetalGreymon's horn. Smiling, he turned and hurled the huge Digimon into Zudomon, who was trying to attack FallenAngemon from behind. The two crashed together and crumbled in a heap.

Taichi winced…then looked back at Sora. "We have to let the duke it out. The important thing is to rescue T.K." he said solemnly. " He's the only one who can control this guy." He said, thumbing in FallenAngemon's direction.

Sora nodded. She and the others turned and ran towards the huge steel doors that marked the entrance to the Throne Room.

Fallen whipped his head around, and quicker than thought, moved to block the DigiDestined. He looked down at the stunned kids with pure malice.

"I thought I told you to leave." He sneered. He looked Angewomon up and down and smiled. "You want to try your luck, friend?" He prodded.

His smile vanished pretty quickly, when he found himself on the wrong end of MegaKabuterimon's vicious **Horn Buster**. Force exploded from the center of the impact, and the insect-like Digimon drove Fallen deep into the far West side of the compound wall.

MegaKabuterimon's horn was stuck in the wall, but he still managed to sound elated. "I think I got him." He said, before a huge blow from Fallen's fist drove him back into the ground several feet. Fallen snarled, and his wings suddenly flared.

"We must go!" Angewomon persisted, and with that, opened the huge doors and ushered the DigiDestined into the Throne Room.

************

Celamon watched the action wide-eyed. She was amazed at how strong FallenAngemon really was. She was even more amazed at how these obviously weaker Digimon still continued to engage him in battle. "What are they fighting for?" Celamon thought to herself.

She was torn in half. She had taken a liking to T.K.-san, and she had taken a peculiar liking in FallenAngemon. Her heart tugged towards the dark creature. She wanted to fight alongside him, even though he obviously needed no help. Celamon frowned and shook her head. "_What is it!?"_ She thought furiously. "_What's wrong with me?"_

Dawoemon laughed beside her. Celamon looked up at the beautiful plant-woman's cold face. Dawoemon caught her look and pointed at the mirror. "The DigiDestined have entered the Throne Room." She explained. "Now the fun begins."

************

Fallen grunted as he was slammed back by a thunderous punch from Garudomon. He picked himself up only to have her attack him from above. Fallen flared his wings, and flipped back. The ground exploded with the force of Garudomon's fury, just where FallenAngemon had been. She leveled a steel gaze at him and drew energy.

"**Blade Wing!**" She boomed, and a phoenix blade of blood-red energy blazed towards FallenAngemon. Fallen braced himself and took the blow of energy in his palm. He was pushed back, his feet digging into the hard cement. With a growl, he redirected the energy towards Lillymon, who was readying an attack behind him.

Lillymon gasped and vanished, moving quickly away from the attack. The **Blade Wing** demolished what was left of the East Wall.

A cloud of dust and debris filled the area, and Fallen smiled. They were weak, and he was having a good time at this. He turned to look for where the DigiDestined and suddenly realized they were gone.

"Takeru-san!" he whispered to clenched teeth, and he dreaded the storm that was to come.

************

T.K. had been trying to go to sleep for some time now. There was no loud noises or anything to interfere, he just had a nagging feeling that something was about to happen. His ears twitched, as he heard the sound of the huge steel door opening behind him.

Takeru wheeled around in his huge Throne, expecting Fallen, Celamon, or at the very least, Dawoemon. What he saw made his blood run cold. The DigiDestined were there, Taichi, Koushiro, Sora, Joe, Mimi, Hikari, Yamato, and Angewomon hovering silently above the littlest girl.

His eyes focused in on the blonde boy of the group, and his eyes narrowed.

"T.K.!" Yamato yelled. The smile that was on his face faded, however, when he saw the look his little brother was giving him.

Takeru simply stared at him, his eyes cold, his body flowing with the full power of the Crest of Despair. In the corner of his vision, he thought he saw the darkness creep in again. He didn't care. All he cared about was the hateful form that stood before him.

"Mat." T.K. growled, and the darkness grew triumphant, threatening to consume all in the room today.

* * *

****

Part 8: The Bell Tolls.

For a moment everything stood still. The DigiDestined stared up at Takeru, sitting rigidly in the huge throne. A million questions flew through their minds. What is he doing there? What made him lose control over Angemon? Why was he just looking back at them like that.

None of those questions mattered to Yamato. He had finally found his little brother, and he was safe and sound. "T.K." he whispered, and started forward.

"Why're you here?" Takeru asked coldly. Matt stopped in his tracks and looked up at the boy.

"What do you mean what am I doing here?" Yamato asked harshly. " I'm here to get you! You got lost and we found you."

"I wasn't lost!" T.K. snapped. " I was never lost. I finally got rid of _you_." He looked around frantically_. "Where's Fallen?"_ He thought. _"Why isn't he here to help?"_

"You finally got rid of us?" Taichi repeated. "What the…are you OK T.K.?" He looked around the boys surroundings, the huge throne and the nicely decorated palace. Taichi laughed. "Boy they're sure giving you the sweet treatment. What did you tell them, that you were a god or some-"

"Shut-up Tai!" Takeru snapped. Taichi was taken aback by the remark, and stood shocked for a second. He frowned at T.K. and took a step forward.

"I'm really getting tired of people telling me to shut-up." He said angrily. "Just what's you're problem anyway?"

Yamato looked at his friend, then peered up at his little brother. "What's with you T.K.?" he asked. " Do you have any idea of the trouble we had trying to find you?"

T.K. laughed. "Nobody ever asked you to look for me." He said. Takeru turned his throne back to the DigiDestined and scowled. "Now go away!" he shouted.

"What?!" Joe started.

"That wasn't especially nice." Mimi frowned. "First we have your crazy Digimon beating up on ours, and now we have you being all rude and everything."

"T.K., what are you doing?" Sora pleaded gently. "This is nuts. Let's just get outta here and get Angemon under control."

Takeru said nothing. Yamato looked at his friends apologetically, embarrassment plastered all over his face. Angrily he turned to the throne and took several quick steps forward. "T.K.!" he shouted. "Enough with this attitude. Get off that chair and let's go. Now!" He added angrily.

Takeru's blood ran cold. He turned around on his huge chair quickly and stood up. He stared down his older brother and howled at the top of his lungs**, "YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO MATT!**" The power of the Crest of Despair flowed through his voice, knocking Yamato and the rest of the DigiDestined off their feet.

Yamato gasped as he floated in the air, not hitting the ground after being yelled down. He stared wide-eyed as he floated towards his little brother. Takeru was ablaze with dark energy, sparking away from his body.

The others tried to help, but found themselves paralyzed. "Wh-what's going on?" Kari stammered. She looked at her tall protector. "Angewomon?"

The angel said nothing, only looked as Yamato floated up to his brother, who stood with all the power of the Crest on his tall throne.

"You don't tell me what to do anymore, Matt." He repeated silently, his eyes dead cold. " Not anymore."

***********

Fallen wasn't even breaking a sweat against the Ultimates who fought him. Zudomon launched a vicious attack, slamming down his **Vulcan's Hammer** on the small dark figure. FallenAngemon reared up and sent a powerful punch right into the Hammer's path. The force of the attack vibrated through Zudomon's body, and he was blown away to the far side of the courtyard.

A green flash of light flared behind Fallen, and he vanished, as Lillymon's attack blasted the ground where he was. Lillymon quickly followed, the only one of the Digimon who seemed to be just as fast as Fallen was. She fired her **Flower Cannon** repeatedly, nearly hitting FallenAngemon several times, and seemingly putting him on the ropes. 

Suddenly, Fallen stopped in mid-flight and waited as Lillymon rushed up to him. Before she could move, FallenAngemon sent a devastating knee to her midsection. Lillymon shocked in place and then blew back. She screamed in pain and a green glow enveloped her, as she returned back into Palmon stage.

Garudomon moved quickly in front of the Rookie. Fallen just looked down at her, he had no intention of attacking the helpless one. He made a move, when his cheek opened up from a wicked slash from WereGarurumon. The werewolf was so quick, Fallen had no chance to move. Black Digifluid poured down his face from the cut on his cheek. WereGarurumon skidded in place, and reared back towards the wounded Angel.

"**Garuru kick!" **He boomed, as he leveled a round-house kick towards FallenAngemon. Fallen blocked the attack with his fore-arm, and with his right fist, backhanded the werewolf straight in his muzzle. Lights flashed in WereGarurumon's vision, and he hit the ground hard, temporarily paralyzed.

Fallen's head snapped up, and he abruptly took a look behind him. MetalGreymon's chest plates were opened up, and light began to coalesce at the spot.

"Eat this…" he growled. "**Giga Blaster!" **A torrent of light poured out of MetalGreymon's chest and speeded towards FallenAngemon. Two hideously grinning nuclear missiles were riding the blast from MetalGreymon, screeching towards their target.

Fallen braced himself and caught the two missiles in his hands. He was pushed back by their force, his feet digging a trench in the ground of the courtyard. He roared as he was pushed back into the South-West corner of the wall. 

A blinding light flashed as the missiles detonated. The explosion rocked the whole palace. Clouds of dust and debris were thrown everywhere. The Digimon looked at the rubble anxiously.

At first there was no movement, then a pile of rocks were pushed away from the debris, and FallenAngemon got up silently. His face was a scowl, covered with dust and dirt. He flexed his wings, brushing off the dirt from them and rushed towards MetalGreymon.

Tai's dinosauric-Digimon laughed inwardly. He didn't stand a chance against this little monster, but he sure as hell wasn't going to lie down and let him win easily.

He charged against the dark angel, and the force of their collision rocked the Palace, and was felt as far down as the town of Sector.

************

"So Matt," Takeru sneered at his older brother. " guess I'm not so helpless after all."

Yamato dangled in the air. He could only stare at T.K. with a growing horror. "What the heck's up with you T.K.?" He asked.

"Nothing's up with me." T.K. lied. "I'm fine. You're the one who barged in and starting annoying everyone."

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked angrily. "We came here to save you! We thought you were in trouble!"

Takeru shrugged. "I'm having a lot better time here than I was with you guys." He said. " Sorry, but you're not gonna have me around to spite and hate anymore."

Yamato's eyes widened. "Spite? Hate? Who've you been talking too T.K.? Who's been telling you all this crap!?" He struggled to get out of the invisible grip he was in.

"It's not crap! You're the ones that are full of it." He pointed to the rest of the DigiDestined, who stood paralyzed on the spot. "I know how you guys really feel. I always knew, but Dawoemon had to point it out to me, because I was hiding it from myself!"

"Dawoemon." Matt thought to himself. "I'm not gonna forget that name." He turned to his brother. "T.K. this is nuts. Whatever that crazy Digimon told you, it's all lies. Now let me go and let's get out of here." 

T.K. blinked. Matt seemed so calm, why was he acting like this, if he really hated him? He thought back to his memories with Yamato and the DigiDestined, and found nothing but sneers and hateful glances. T.K. knew what they really thought of him, but right now…they seemed so different, as if they really cared.

Tears started filling his eyes. "Yeah but…" he started. "…then why did you hold me back? Why did you always make fun of me? Why'd you always make me feel bad before?"

Yamato glared. "Make fun of you? T.K. that's crazy! We never made fun of you! We…" Matt gulped. "We love you man," he forced out. "We all do! Where are you getting this?"

Suddenly T.K.'s vision grew black. He saw nothing. He panicked for half a second, and then his vision cleared, and he started to see the truth.

************

Dawoemon's truth. She spoke at Takeru through the mirror, weaving net around the boy. "Even now they mock you." She whispered. "Especially this one. They think you're a fool that can be easily manipulated. You're not, Takeru-sama. You're the savior of the Digital World." 

Dawoemon laughed as she forced the thoughts into the young boys mind. Celamon could only watch. She felt sick. She knew that this wasn't right…but she couldn't do anything against Dawoemon. She couldn't fight her, not while Dawoemon was the reason for Celamon being alive.

Celamon turned away from the visions in the mirror and tried to block all the sounds that were coming through it. She tried, but there was no point. The sounds pushed themselves into her conscience, and she hoped that they wouldn't last for much longer.

************

T.K. opened his eyes. "No!" he shouted. "You're making fun of me right now! You think you're so cool, trying to make me feel like the baby." He leaned at his stunned brother, who was floating at level in front of him. "Well I'm not the baby anymore Matt, and you're not gonna win this time!"

Yamato gulped. "T.K. what are you talking about!?" he nearly shouted.

"All those times of laughing behind my back because I was the smallest. All those times of using my power, but making me feel like I didn't have any!" T.K. narrowed his eyes and continued. " All those times hating me and being jealous of me while you were pretending to like me, it's all over Matt." He turned to the others. "The act's all over. Now get lost!!"

Taichi looked flabbergasted, he moved his mouth, trying to speak. Sora's eyes filled with tears. Yamato turned angrily and stared down his deluded brother.

"T.K. just listen to me-" Matt started.

"Just shut-up!"

"T.K! Listen! Those are all lies-"

"SHUTTUP!" Takeru blasted back. His head felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. He shut his eyes and brought his fists up, trying to block the pain. "SHUTTUP! GO AWAY! NOW!" He screamed.

"TAKERU! STOP!" Matt pleaded, using his full name the first time in what seemed like a long time. He watched his brother self-destruct in front of him, and Mat felt all the guilt and shame and pain his knew his brother was feeling. He dropped to the ground suddenly, landing painfully on his elbow. Yamato got up, tears pierced his vision. He stepped towards his younger brother. "PLEASE!" he prodded.

Takeru couldn't stand the pressure building in his head. He threw his head back and blasted throughout the Digital World. "**FALLENANGEMON!!!**"

Like an explosion, Fallen appeared. He blasted through the thick steel doors, and leveled his arm at Yamato. Black energy coalesced around the length of his arm, and without thinking, he attacked.  


"**Touch of Fate!" ** he screamed, and a dark orb of energy exploded out of his arm and screamed towards the stunned boy. 

Everything seemed to move at super slow motion. Sora screamed. Mimi's hands flew to her mouth. Joe and Koushiro seemed to be shocked in place. Taichi could only watch, his mouth slowly gaping open in terror.

Yamato stared up at the screaming ball of death that was heading towards him. He blinked once, then slowly looked up at his brother. Takeru was completely blank. He stared down at Yamato, and Matt couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

Matt stared back at the inky globe that was speeding towards him. He could feel the power radiating from it. Yamato didn't even bother screaming, he knew there was no point. He knew that he was going to die right then, right there.

Hikari stood gaping at the sight in front of her. Angewomon looked forward, then turned to the little girl. "Mikari…Mikari!" she said repeatedly.

Kari turned up slowly to face her. Angewomon smiled and asked simply. "Do you trust me?"

"Wha?"

"Do you trust me? Hurry! I must know, I need to know!" Angewomon pleaded.

Hikari looked at the scene of impending death of her friend, then at her beautiful protector. "Yes." She answered. "Of course I trust you."

Angewomon smiled and nodded, then she vanished. Kari blinked, and then looked at the horrible scene in front of her. The **Touch of Fate** was still speeding towards Matt, but now Angewomon stood in front of him. She braced herself as the hellish attack finally reached her.

Everyone was shocked back, and the scene played itself out in normal speed. The dark ball buried itself into Angewomon's body, spinning and trying to drill itself through. Angewomon grunted, her fists clenched and gritted her teeth. Yamato was still behind her, frozen into place.

Fallen's mouth gaped open. He couldn't stop the attack once it was released. He looked at the horrified T.K., then at Angewomon, who was struggling to stay standing.

The **Touch of Fate** drilled its way into Angewomon slowly. She let out gasps of pain, and glanced back at Yamato behind her. She tried to speak, but couldn't make out any words.

Taichi snapped to attention and ran towards them. At full speed, he tackled Matt out of the path and a few feet away from the action. Angewomon smiled and visibly relaxed.

The **Touch of Fate** bored its way cleanly through her body, and exploded in the floor below her. Angewomon lifted off the ground with the force of the explosion, then settled gently into the crater that now marred the floor.

"ANGEWOMON!" Kari screamed. She ran towards her fallen friend, the others shocked into place. The Digimon that were outside fighting finally rushed through the door and in, just in time to see their dear friend dying in the center of the room.

Kari hugged the limp body of her Digimon. Angewomon looked her in the face and whispered silently. "Do you trust me?"

Tears were flowing down Hikari's face. She shook her head angrily. "How can you ask me that, Angewomon, after what you just did?"

"I need an answer, Mikari. Please." Angewomon whispered.

"YES!" Kari screamed. "Yes I trust you! Just don't go, please!"

Angewomon smiled, and then went limp in Kari's arms. Her body began to disintegrate into points of lights, and she died, spinning off into the heavens of the Digital World.

FallenAngemon shook his head slowly. "I….I…." he stammered. He looked down at T.K., who stared at Kari. " I didn't mean…" he stopped and gulped…not able to go on.

Hikari was kneeling silently…her arms still in the position of holding her friends. Not in her wildest nightmares did she imagine this…but now. She let out a heart-rendering wail and collapsed on the ground, sobbing openly.

The other Digimon returned to their In-Training stages, losing their will to fight. They cried openly and went to their charges arms. Taichi looked at his sister and started towards her. Kari turned away and rushed into Sora's arms. Sora held the little girl as she continued in her grief.

Tai looked at the ground where Angewomon had lay. He turned his head slowly to Yamato, who stood holding Tsunomon, eyes wide and mouth opened. Tai turned to T.K. "We're leaving." He said simply. With that, he walked to the door that exited the Throne Room.

The others followed, Mimi sobbing and hiccuping, leaning into Joe as he lead her out. Yamato looked up once at his little brother, then left the room, carrying a weeping Tsunomon.

Taichi looked back, holding Koromon. "We're leaving, but this isn't over." He said. "We're not gonna lose you too." And with that, he left the Throne Room.

************

Dawoemon laughed. It wasn't exactly what she had hoped for, but at least _one_ of them died. She cackled openly, and Celamon stared at the mirror in horror.

In a huff, she turned towards the door of the chambers, ready to blast them open if she had to. There was no need though, the door was unlocked. Dawoemon had released her hold of the smaller Digimon. She glanced at her evilly, then began laughing again.

Celamon rushed out of the chambers at full speed, and ran towards the Throne Room.

************

"Takeru-san…" Fallen began. " I…I don't know… I didn't mean for this-"

"I know." T.K. said quietly. He stared down at the crater where Angewomon had lay. "I'm tired. Can you go now?" He asked.

FallenAngemon began to say something, then dropped his head and walked out of the room, closing the broken door behind him.

Takeru threw his head back and wailed. Power of the Crest of Despair surged through him, and the harder he cried, the more powerful he would be. He felt completely trapped in the cycle. T.K. stopped fighting and let the Despair invade his soul.

************

The DigiDestined silently walked out of Sector, except for the ones who were crying. None of the guards or other Digimon from Sector interfered with their going. It was all that they could do to watch as the kids in their Digimon left broken and defeated from their town. They knew now that there would be no hope of Sector becoming free again, and readied themselves for a life of slavery.

************

Celamon rushed towards the Throne Room, and into the battered courtyard. There she saw Fallen stumble out into the open room.

Celamon ran towards him and stopped just a few feet shy. "Fallen?" she asked. FallenAngemon collapsed to his knees and dropped his head on her small shoulder. Tears flooded out from beneath the hood he wore, and he cried silently.

Celamon held him as he grieved. She cursed Dawoemon under her breath, but could do no more than that. She was content enough just to hold him until he was through with his grieving…or forever. Whichever came first.

************

Gennai was working hard, trying to create a new Fun Word Puzzle, when an alarm went off in his head. He fell out of his hickory chair in shock. "The DigiDestined…" he stammered. "…they've been…defeated!"

He leaped out of his chair and into a small room in his undersea house. There on the wall, the symbols of all the Crests were laid out, along with bars symbolizing their strength. All the bars were at an extreme low, except for the Crest of Hope, which had gone into the negative, at nearly maximum strength.

Surprisingly, Gennai smiled. There was only one light he was worried about. "Yes!" he thought to himself. "The Crest of Light was still glowing. It was faint, but it was still glowing positively."

Gennai ran into his room and began to relay a message to Koushiro. Time was of the essence, but he wasn't worried. He knew that everything would be OK at the end. The Crest of Light still shone.

And where there was Light…there was always Hope.

* * *

****

9, ATTACK OF THE GIANT AUTOMOMON

The DigiDestined had decided not to go through the Forest this time. They decided to take the long way around. They had no idea what they were going to do next. They had been utterly and completely beaten, and worse off, by one of their own. 

Tai looked around angrily. He felt so helpless, he wanted to punch something. His little sister, Hikari, was still grieving the death of her dear friend Gatomon. The other Digimon didn't seem to want to talk about it. Koushiro buried his head in his computer. Joe took off his glasses and cleaned them. Mimi kept staring into the cool hat of hers. Sora held on to the little girl, consoling her during her fits of depression.

Tai looked around at Matt. He just sat next to a thin tree, looking down at the ground. He would repeatedly look up at Taichi and then quickly gaze at the ground again. Tai thought he wanted to say something to him, but didn't have the guts. Or maybe it was something else.

He looked back at his poor sister. He wanted so much to console her, now in her greatest moment of grief. Hikari, however, seemed to want nothing to do with him. She ignored his looks and stayed with Sora. Sora looked at Tai, almost apologetically. Taichi smiled and looked down at Koromon, who seemed to be looking to Tai for direction.

Finally, Joe broke the silence. "So what are we going to do now?"

"We're going back to save T.K." Tai answered quickly. " It's just… we need a plan." He kicked the ground and stirred up a cloud of dust. " We need a way to get close enough to him and to break whatever hold this 'Dawoemon' has on the little guy."

"Fat chance getting near him." Mimi said quietly. " That new Angemon isn't gonna let anyone of us close to him again. Besides, he might even…." Tears flooded her eyes and she hid her face in her hat.

"That's not going to happen again." Tai swore. " We just have to get stronger." He looked down at Koromon, who looked ready to weep all over again.

"I should have Warp-Digivolved when I had the chance." He whined. " I was to weak after his first attack, and I had to fight him as MetalGreymon. It's all my fault." 

Tai picked him up and pulled on his ear. "What are you talking about buddy?" He smiled. "It wasn't your fault. We just have to get stronger that's all." He looked at the others. "We need some major help."

Koushiro piped up. "Gennai wants us to visit him." The others looked at him with surprise. " He sent me an e-mail. It seems he knows exactly what's been going on and he wants us to see him right away."

"But Gennai lives so far away." Sora mused. " How are we supposed to get there. I don't think we have too much time to fool around."

Izzy stood and actually smiled. " He knew you'd say that." He revealed. " He actually has another cottage that he lives in, and he's given me directions. He said he should be there shortly after we arrive, if we hurry."

"Well," Tai thought. " if there's anyone who can help us now, it's Gennai." He looked at Matt. Matt said nothing, but got up carrying Tsunomon and started walking. Koushiro shrugged, picked up Motimon,, and followed. The others followed as well. Tai stood back , scratching his head. "_Come on Mat…"_ he thought "_…we have to keep strong_."

Sora suddenly turned to Kari, "You know what, I bet Angewomon isn't gone. I bet she's just waiting somewhere for you, like she did last time." She laid her hand on Hikari's head. " Until she comes back, I'll tell you what, _I'll_ be your Digimon." Sora smiled. "You can call me Soramon."

Yokomon's eyes widened. "Hey! If you're gonna be her Digimon, then I'll be her Digimon too!" Sora smiled and looked back at Kari.

"See, now you have 2!" Hikari gave a weak smile and shrugged. She continued onward with the others. Tai noticed that Her crest hadn't changed like Takeru's Crest had changed. Maybe that was a good sign.

************

It's been a couple of days since the incident in the Throne Room. The courtyard had been repaired, and the Throne Room redecorated. Now Takeru practically lived there. In his huge comfy throne he slept. It wasn't a dreamless sleep, but it was sleep nevertheless.

Celamon sat in the courtroom, a flower pot placed in front of her. Her knees were up, holding a notepad close to her chest. She was drawing, or at least, trying to draw. It had been a slow couple of days, and she had decided to try this to alleviate her boredom. Now she wished she hadn't, looking at her drawing of the flower in front of her with contempt. 

"Boy do I suck." Celamon lamented. Just then she turned her head, and FallenAngemon walked into the courtyard. He strode normally, but Celamon knew that in a blink of an eye, his short blade would be pulled out, ready to kill anyone who tried to harm the little boy inside the Throne Room.

He looked down at the small Digimon and smiled. "What are you doing?" he asked. Celamon quickly hugged the notepad to her chest and blushed.

"Nothing!" she lied. She froze as Fallen sat next to her, looking at the balcony that accompanied the courtyard. She relaxed slightly. "What…how are you doing?"

Fallen shrugged in response, continuing to stare at the horizon. Celamon concentrated on his shiny black hair, how it fell all the way loosely to his waist. She examined to shape of his face, his strong nose and handsome chin, and of course that very nice smile he wore. It was a tight smile, she thought, but it was still a nice one. Suddenly that smile turned at her, and she found herself staring directly into Fallen's face.

She blushed furiously and turned away. Fallen looked surprised. He faced the horizon again and sighed. "This is so frustrating." He scowled. "I feel like…like…"

He turned and looked at the potted plant next to Celamon. With a swift movement, he picked it up and prepared to hurl it across the courtyard. Celamon reached out frantically. "NO WAIT!!!"

Fallen paused and looked at the frantic Digimon. "Wha-?"

Celamon whipped the plant out of his hands violently. "I'm drawing that you idiot!" She shouted. Brushing it off, she sat back down and continued to draw.

"Can I see it?" Fallen asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you wouldn't understand it!" Celamon said viciously. She looked up at him and wore a wicked smile. " You should start slowly. I'll draw a dot and you can examine that for a few hours."

FallenAngemon was taken aback, then he laughed. "Ah you're just jealous 'cause I could beat you in a fight." He smiled and Celamon fumed.

"Y-You…." She grated. Fallen smiled again and flared his wings. He hovered briefly in the air and waved. He was just about to fly off when Celamon suddenly stood. "Hey wait!"

Fallen looked back. Celamon continued. "Come find me later OK? I'll show you the drawing."

Fallen nodded quickly and took off. Celamon looked at his disappearing figure and smiled. "_Idiot_." She thought to herself. " _Big, handsome idiot._"

************

The DigiDestined had walked for quite a while, and had now reached a strange complex. It looked like a factory, similar to the one they visited when they first entered the Digital World. They looked at it as it loomed in the horizon, only a few blocks away.

The others sat down for a rest. Tai stretched and conked out on the grass. The forest was to their right and they were in a clear meadow. Joe thought it wouldn't be too safe to be out in the open like this, but they were too tired to care.

Taichi got up on his elbows and looked at Matt. He stared at the ground, then looked at Tai. He quickly glanced away. Tai thought he was fighting something. He got up and went to his friend's side.

"All right Matt," Tai started. "if got something to say to me, say it now." He stared down the blonde boy. Yamato stared down at the ground, and his eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "It's my fault your sister is in such pain. It's my fault Gatomon is gone." Yamato brought his arms up against his head, as if to hide the whole world away from him. " If only…." He trailed off.

Taichi stared incredulously. "You're fault?" He flopped to the ground and sighed. "I'm sure tired of everyone saying it's their fault. Why don't we blame…um…Joe! He's always blamable!" Tai grinned.

Yamato squared off on him angrily. "This isn't a freakin' joke, Tai!" He grated through clenched teeth. " Don't treat it that way! You're just pissing me off!"

Tai glanced back at him. " And you're pissing me off, all of you with your, 'It's my fault' and 'no it's my fault.'" Taichi got up on his elbows and sighed. "You're not your brothers keeper Mat, and I'm not my sisters. The fact is, this Dawoemon poisoned his mind. It's obviously her fault." He looked at Mat and grinned. "Tell you what, next time we find her, I'll hold her while you give her serious beat down."

Yamato tried not to, but he grinned anyway. He looked away, as if ashamed to be smiling. Tai laughed, then stopped as a strange grating sound reached his ears.

The others heard it too. "What the heck's that." Joe said. He got up and looked around. The sound seemed to be coming from the forest.

Koushiro got up slowly. " I dunno….it almost sounds like."

"AUTOMOMONS!" Mimi burst out.

The exploded from the trees, hundreds of white and black striped Automomons. Their hideous breathing made the sound that the DigiDestined had heard before. The screeched and headed straight for the group of kids.

  
The Digimon Digivolved, but Tai got a hold of Agumon. "RUN!" he screamed, and the all got up and frantically fled. They raced as hard as they could, the vicious Automomons right on their heels.

Joe was gasping painfully. "Where….are ….we going…..to ….." he huffed.

Taichi looked back. "Dammit! We have to fight!"

"No!" Sora whizzed by at full speed, running with Hikari in tow, and grabbing Taichi as she went by. "We have….to get….there!" She pointed to the factory that was ahead.

The DigiDestined ran through the huge opening in the front of the Factory. It seemed relatively empty, with only a few hydraulic arms here and there, and lots of weeds and vines growing around the dead equipment.

They stopped and stared ahead dejectedly. There was no other opening, and they had hit a dead end. The kids looked behind themselves and gulped. Blocking the only entrance were piles upon piles of stir mad Automomon.

************

Dawoemon entered the Throne Room. She had been having a great time, torturing the DigiDestined, making them feel as much pain as possible. She reveled when Angewomon died. She would have preferred if it was actually one of the kids, but this was good enough. A few minutes ago she had sent the whole army of her Automomons to destroy them completely.

Now she was being called to a room by a pint-sized brat and was being treated like a servant. She ground her teeth…this wouldn't last long, she hoped.

Takeru sat before her, he didn't look at all to pleased. Dawoemon gulped and readied herself. She had to remember that this was only a boy, no matter what power he had, he would be hers to manipulate. Easily.

She strode up to the boy. FallenAngemon floated silently on his right side, and Celamon stood off on the East Wall of the Throne Room. Takeru leaned forward and narrowed his eyes.

"When do I get to save the Digiworld?" He asked simply.

Dawoemon gulped again. " You see, Takeru-sama, I am planning it as we speak. It is a very delicate process, but once it is do-" 

T.K. got on his feet and roared. **"I'M NOT GONNA SIT HERE AND WAIT ANYMORE DAWOEMON! TELL ME HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD AND TELL ME NOW!!!!"**

Dawoemon was blown back and hit the door of the room with an ugly thud. Everyone in the room was pushed back by the force of Takeru's rage. The impact had formed a large crack in the Throne Room door and Dawoemon slumped down. Celamon stared wide-eyed, and T.K. narrowed his eyes, staring coldly at the downed plant-mon.

Dawoemon got up slowly and brushed herself off. She had to calm herself down. Takeru didn't know it, but he had gotten really close to killing her right then and there.

"The Crests were created on a blueprint forged from people of another age." She began. " The Crest of Despair had been created a long time ago, and was used by a powerful King. He used the Crest to unleash the _Pixel_, another dimension tucked away in the Digital World."

She strode forward and grimaced. She didn't want to tell so much so soon, but she had no choice. " The _Pixel_ is the ultimate source of power. It was so powerful, the others that lived in the time moved to depose the King and to use the Crest of Despair to seal it." She took a breath and continued. " My people found the ruins that led to the _Pixel Gate_, and are now, as we speak, preparing the way to it for you, Takeru-sama."

"I'm going to open the gate?" T.K. asked.

Dawoemon nodded. " With the power of the Pixel Dimension, no other Digimon would be able to stand up to you. You could keep the Digiworld at peace, forever." She smiled knowingly.

T.K. sat back. "How long is this going to take? You know, getting the ruins open"

Dawoemon shook her head. " They are trying as hard as they can, Takeru-sama." She glared at the boy on the Throne. " I could force them to work harder on your behalf, if you so wish."

"No." T.K. sighed. "I'll wait." Dawoemon had the feeling she had been dismissed and excused herself from the room.

__

"I can wait too, Takeru." She thought to herself as she left for her chambers_. " I'll wait for the chance to kill you and put this world on its knees."_ She smiled wickedly and disappeared into the hallway.

************

"**Pepper Breath!" **Agumon shouted. A ball of fire escaped his mouth and exploded on a section of machinery, bursting it into pieces. Oil and Gas spilled on the ground in front of the scrambling Automomons. The other Digimon followed suit and destroyed more equipment, spilling oil in front of them.

"OK, Now!" Joe shouted. The Digimon aimed and fired their attacks on the slick ground. It burst into flames, creating a fire wall between them and the Automomons. The DigiDestined cheered as the foul creatures were driven back.

"Great plan Joe!" Tai cheered. "Look at them, not so tough now are ya!?" He taunted the monsters.

Suddenly they began to jump on each other and melt. The DigiDestined looked at them in horror, then looked up, and up, and up, as a huge creature loomed in front of them.

The Automomons had fused into one gigantic version of the smaller Monster. It hunched over, trying not to hit its head on the ceiling that was 2 stories away from the ground. It took a step and put out the puny fire that had started only a minute before.

"Die." It growled.

"Okay." Joe gulped. "This is cute." And trembled with the ground, as the Automomon took a booming step forward towards the hapless kids.

* * *

**Part 10, The Loving Sector**

Joe's body shook with the force of the steps Automomon was taking towards him. Well, actually towards everyone of the DigiDestined. "_So this is the way my life ends"_ He wondered miserably. "_Well…at least I'll be here, with my friends…"_

Automomon took another lethal step towards them. Joe shook his head. "_…and at least I wont be turned into a pumpkin and eaten." _He thought sarcastically. "_That'd be a brutal way to go."_

Joe's thoughts were interrupted, as a high-pitched voice called to them from behind. "Hey you! Over here!" It called. The kids turned around and saw a little Digimon, completely green, with great green eyes. It had several tendrils for legs, and small flippers for arms. It waved at the kids frantically.

"What are you waiting for?! Do you _want _to get squished." Using its tendrils, it cleared off a pile of debris that was covering a massive metal tunnel-opening. 

Tai jumped in place. "That's it!" He yelled. "Everyone get to that opening!" The others rushed by him and clustered around the little green Digimon and the opening. 

Sora glanced behind her as Automomon took another thunderous step. She looked over to the others. "Can we get it open?" she asked. Yamato was already struggling to open the massive door. Gabumon and Palmon joined him in helping, and soon everyone was pulling on it.

The door opened, but just a little. "We need time!" Matt panted. Tai looked at Agumon, who nodded back at him and ran towards Automomon.

"What're you doing?" Sora yelled back. Tai turned around and gave her a 'thumbs up.'

"Get that door open! We'll keep this guy busy!" He turned towards Agumon. "Ready buddy?"

Agumon grinned and replied "Do you have to ask?", and with that an intense light exploded from his being. At warp-speed he developed through the stages…Champion…Ultimate…and then Mega. The light flashed away, and standing in Agumon's place was the knight-like WarGreymon.

He looked up at Automomon and blasted into the air. Automomon attacked with a wicked forearm. WarGreymon blocked and countered, delivering a sharp blow to Automomon's elbow, and sheering it's arm clear off.

Automomon looked disdainfully as his enormous arm fell to the ground, creating a huge crater in the Factory floor. It whipped it's head at WarGreymon and head-butted it, sending the Mega crashing into the opposite wall.

The Factory shook with the impact, and Tai turned to watch the effort of the others with the opening. They had gotten it halfway open, and the little green Digimon was leading them in.

Tai turned towards WarGreymon. "Just a little more time!" He encouraged.

WarGreymon shook his head. "Easy for you to say." He said quietly. Then he spread his arms apart, and a massive ball of energy coalesced between them. The Factory began to vibrate with the power of the miniature sun the Mega had in his grip. Automomon paused, then quickly reached for him.

"**Terra Force!"** WarGreymon blasted, and flung the attack straight into Automomon's outstretched hand. A terrific light flashed and Automomon was pushed back a couple of meters, his feet digging into the Factory ground. The **Terra Force** spun around, trying to drill it's way through Automomon's hand.

"Tai!" Matt yelled. "Come on! We're outta here!" And with that he ducked into the dark tunnel.

Taichi looked at his Mega frantically. Automomon was still struggling with the **Terra Force**. Without warning, it burst out a roar and flung the attack straight back at WarGreymon. "Watch out!!!" Tai warned.

WarGreymon brought his metal-plated arms up to block the attack. An explosion boomed through the Factory, blasting out windows and bursting lights. Tai coughed in the dust and looked around the debris for his friend. "_Is he…"_ he thought woefully.

Then Koromon came screaming out of the dust cloud. Taichi ran, slid, and caught the In-Training before he touched the ground. "@_@" Koromon tried to say. Tai grinned and ran towards the opening.

Automomon whipped around and saw him running. It took two booming steps towards him. Taichi turned towards the metal opening, just as Automomon's massive foot came crushing down on him.

************

"Why do you follow her?" Fallen asked the smaller Digimon. It was evening in the city of Sector, and they stood together in the courtyard, just adjacent to the hallway that led to the chambers. Celamon looked up at him in surprise. She hadn't been paying attention, and the question startled her. That and FallenAngemon usually never spoke first.

"Follow who?" she asked.

"Dawoemon."

Celamon frowned. "I owe her." She explained silently. "She saved my life. She told me that she saved my egg from a group of evil Digimon. She watched me hatch and raised me up until now." She looked up at the dark angel, waiting for a reaction.

Fallen glanced at her for a moment, then turned away. "I see." He sighed.

Celamon gazed down again, then looked straight ahead. "You shouldn't judge her. She's been through a lot, at least that's what I understand."

"I'm not judging her." Fallen replied. He gazed down at her and smiled. " I just don't trust her."

Celamon huffed angrily. "Trust her or not, it's your problem, not mine."

"Don't be angry again."

"I'm not angry." She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "Why the heck would I be angry? You're not all that to get me upset." She lied.

Fallen chuckled and looked ahead. "You've always had this attitude, ever since Takeru-san got you to join us." He looked down at her again, examining her pretty digital face. " I think I know why too."

"Why?" 

"Because…" Fallen crossed his arms and sighed. "You're jealous."

"WHAT?"

"You're mad because I could take you down without lifting an arm." He faced the now enraged Digimon and smiled. Even with her face a thundercloud of rage, she still looked pretty.

"You….WISH!" she grated. Fallen could have sworn there was steam coming out of the sides of her head. " I'm a fighter! I can't be downed easily, not by anyone!" She stubbed an angry finger into Fallen's chest. ", and certainly NOT by you!"

"Sure I can." Fallen smiled. "Easily."

"Try it!" Celamon hissed angrily.

So he did. Quicker than thought, FallenAngemon bent down and kissed the small Digimon right on her small mouth. Celamon's eyes widened, her pupils grew also. Electricity was shooting up and down her spine. "_What is this?" _she wondered magically. Fallen continued to kiss her, pushing his lips slightly against hers. Celamon felt all the tension she had in her body melt away. She arched her neck up to meet his kiss more evenly, and closed her eyes. "_What is…this?"_

The kiss seemed to last forever. Celamon's tiny gossamer wings fluttered momentarily. She couldn't believe what was happening. For the first time in her life, she was completely at someone else's mercy. She was completely at FallenAngemon's mercy.

Which is exactly what he wanted. Abruptly he pulled away from her mouth and smiled. " Ha! See, got you. I could have killed you 100 times during that and you wouldn't have done anything." He boasted. Stupidly I might add.

It felt like a bucket of ice cold water spilled over her body. Her face had still been arched towards the tall angel, and now straightened forcefully. Her eyes widened, and she saw nothing but blood. Quicker than Fallen could anticipate, Celamon blasted her knee deep in his midsection. Fallen gasped in acute pain.

"YOU…." Celamon couldn't finish. She brought her arms together and double-fisted the incapacitated Angel to the ground. Fallen hit the floor with a large crack and lay there dazed. "How _dare_ you…" Celamon whispered. Tears filled her eyes. She was more than embarrassed. Her entire soul had been laid out to bear and Fallen had basically made fun of it. To say she was enraged would be a gross understatement.

Fallen groaned and got up on his elbows. Celamon delivered a devastating kick to his ribs, knocking the angel back a couple of feet, gasping for air. Then she turned an ran into the Hallway of Chambers.

Fallen got up groggily. He shook his head and looked at the direction the little Digimon had ran. "_Well" _he thought ruefully, "…_I guessed I goofed. I'm not used to this."_

He flared his wings, and started after the distressed Celamon, questioning the intelligence of what he was doing.

************

The DigiDestined walked through the vine-filled murky tunnel. Automomon's foot was still visible way down the tunnel, stuck when it tried to squish Taichi like so much …umm….dog poop. ( Whew…saved that one didn't I? ) Now they followed the seemingly endless tunnel through whatever path it offered.

Sora looked at the small green Digimon that was walking beside her. "Hey," she started "we didn't get to thank you. Thanks." She smiled. "Who are you anyway?"

The little Digimon looked up at her in shock…as if she didn't expect the question. She looked at Hikari, threading silently beside Biyomon and said, "Edemon." She looked back at Sora. " What's with her? There seems to be an uneven number of Digimon for you guy-"

"Forget about it." Tai hissed. "You're in good standing with us. Don't spoil it by being nosy!"

"It's OK Tai." Kari said quietly. She looked at Edemon solemnly. " My Digimon, my friend, she died."

"Oh." Edemon nodded. "That sucks."

Joe scrambled to change the subject. "Hey, where's this tunnel headed?" he asked, looking at the tiny Digimon.

She hesitated. "Depends." Edemon responded eventually. " There's a weird symbol on a wall up ahead. I heard if you do something around it, another path will open."

"How'd you get here anyway?" Mimi asked. "This doesn't seem to be a place a little guy like you would hang out."

"I was just goofing around." Edemon explained. " I live in the forest around this Factory, but I got bored and came here." She looked at each DigiDestined in turn. "Good thing I did too, or that giant Automomon would've used you as a rug."

"Yeah." Koushiro sighed. "Imagine that." Then he stopped and peered ahead. "Guys check this out!" he exclaimed as he ran into the dark tunnel, Tentomon buzzing beside him.

They reached a dead end, with a wall decimated by vines and weeds. Izzy pushed them away and revealed what looked like a symbol.

Koushiro looked at the tiny Edemon. " Is that the symbol you were talking about?" he asked.

Edemon nodded. "Yep. Any of you guys know it?" Mimi stepped up and wore a great grin.

"Know it? I wear it everyday!" She went under her blouse and pulled out her crest. "It's the symbol for the Crest of Sincerity." She walked up to the wall and waved the crest in front of it.

The symbol shone, and an intense light flashed. At once, it was gone, and the group was standing in the middle of a forest.

"Oh great." Matt sighed. "Another forest." Gabumon looked up at his charge, then perked his ears. He sniffed in the air.

"Do you smell that Yamato-san?" He asked. Matt stared at him, then sniffed for himself. His eyes popped open.

"Yeah! Yeah I smell that!" He exclaimed. The others began sniffing the air like bloodhounds. Tai hopped in elation.

"Yeah! Food! Come on guys, make like Toucan Sam and '_Follow your Nose_!'" and with that, ran towards the source of the smell.

The other DigiDestined and their Digimon ran alongside him, with Edemon included. They reached a small little wooden cottage, with one window and a red roof. Smoke was coming out of it's small chimney.

Tai started towards the door. "Wait Tai." Matt warned. "You think it's okay to just enter?"

"Uhh…" Taichi hesitated, then Mimi bustled by him, opening the door swiftly.

"I don't care if it's okay or not, I'm tired and hungry, and I'm going in." Palmon followed her as she entered the house. The others shrugged and followed her in. Inside they saw a small warm room, with a delicious smelling soup heating up on an iron stove. 

Well, how could the resist? They found bowls and utensils in the cupboards of the house, and chowed down. There was more than enough soup for them and the Digimon, and the ate like it was going out of style.

Finally, the took a rest from the meal. Tai sighed, patting his stomach. "Man…it felt like I haven't eaten in, like, years."

Yamato relaxed next to a fireplace and mused. " I sure hope that food wasn't poisoned." He thought aloud.

"Stop worrying!" Tai cajoled. Izzy stood up and looked around the small house.

"There has to be some way to find out who owns this place." He said to himself. Tentomon buzzed around him, searching for the same sign.

"Maybe however it was left a message" Tentomon wondered. Abruptly, a thin veil of light pierced the air and expanded into a fuzzy rectangle. The image of a familiar face appeared on it, and the DigiDestined and their Digimon smiled in relief.

"So.." the image of Gennai said. " You _did_ smell what the 'mon was cookin'."

************

Celamon would _not _cry over such a jerk. She wouldn't cry over such an immense idiot. It took all of her strength not to. She was so completely embarrassed and ashamed of her weakness. _"How could he do that to me?" _she cried silently.

She was sitting on the bed of her room, her knees bunched up to her chest. The window was opened, and wind was tossing her short cut digi-hair around her face. Celamon closed her eyes in thought. _"He admires strength."_ She thought_. " That's why he doesn't feel like I do. If I were as strong as he was, I'd admire strength too." _She sighed. There had to be some way to prove her strength to him. Then maybe…

Fallen opened the door silently and stepped in. "I'm sorry!" he said quickly, before Celamon had a chance to object.

"Do you even realize yet how much I like you?" Celamon told him angrily. She turned away and stared at the open window. There had to be some way…

FallenAngemon looked down dejectedly. "I …really didn't think about it…" he stammered. " I never thought about it that much when I was with the others." He faced the small Digimon. "But, I appreciate that you do…and, you know…" Fallen scratched the back of his head and continued " I like you too, you know."

"No you don't." Celamon sighed silently. Suddenly she stood up and bounded to the open window. She opened it wide, and the wind rushed into the room, blowing her hair and Fallen's all over the place.

"What are you doing?" Fallen stammered. Celamon glanced back at him and smiled.

"A mission. I'll be back." And with that, she flipped out of the window and into the night. FallenAngemon stared after her. It was too dark for him to see where she went. He slumped his shoulders and frowned.

"_Well…she's strong." _He concluded. "_She should be OK. Whatever your mission is, keep safe." _Fallen thought towards her. He left the room silently and closed the door behind him.

************

Celamon rushed through the night, using the stems on the top of her head for direction. She had it set in her mind now that FallenAngemon admired strength, and he didn't think she was strong. She smiled ruefully. 

"_But I'll prove that I'm strong."_ She thought silently. "_ I'll prove it by completing this mission. Then…maybe…"_

Celamon trailed off and bounded quickly towards her prey. She rushed off to prove her strength, by taking down the most powerful prey she could think of.

She rushed to kill the DigiDestined.

* * *

****

Chapter 11: Discussion with Gennai.

The DigiDestined clustered around the image of Gennai before them. They were all very relieved that a good familiar face had shown itself. Of course, they were all desperate for any information that could help them help their dear friend Takeru and Angemon.

"_Now, now,_" Gennai said, putting his hands up. _" before you all step over yourselves trying to tell me what's been going on, let me just tell you, I already know._"

Izzy blinked. "You do?" he asked.

"_Yes_." Gennai harrumphed and went on. _" Ever since your first email to me when Tai was sick, I've kept an open link. I know all about Takeru and the Crest of Despair. I also know about FallenAngemon and what happened to Angewomon."_ He turned to Hikari. _" Tough bit of luck there, but don't worry, you'll get by."_

Taichi jumped up at that remark. "What the heck do you mean by that!? This is serious!" he yelled at the image.

"_Hey, just relax. I could have been napping right now, or watching Nash Bridges, but instead I'm up, transporting you guys dinner and giving you guys information, so cut me some slack_." Gennai harrumphed again. "_ Now, there is a way to help Takeru, but you'd have to get by him first, and I don't think that's possible with FallenAngemon around."_

"So, how do we get by him?" Yamato put to the old Digimon.

"_You beat him silly, of course_."

Joe slumped his shoulders. "Are you kidding?" he asked incredulously. " Haven't you seen this guy fight? He's too strong for us!"

"_So? You'll just have to get stronger_." Gennai answered simply.

Sora sighed and whispered to Tai, "Again with the riddles. Why doesn't he ever give us straight answers?"

"_Because I'm old and senile_." Gennai smiled. _" But remarkably, my hearing is still a-ok. Now, to get stronger, you'll have to visit someone. He's been around, and he could get you the skills you need_." Gennai paused. _"….yes…_" he continued. " _I think you're ready to see him now_."

"That's it then!" Tai exclaimed. "We'll just go to this guy, get stronger, and beat FallenAngemon."

Joe shook his head. "There's got to be some sort of catch." He sighed.

"_You're right, young Joe._" Gennai smiled. "_There is a catch. I know this guy, he'll demand something in return, a test, or some sort of task, before he gives you what you need._"

Joe groaned. "I knew it."

"Oh no…" Mimi whined. " Maybe he'll force us to wash the floors of his house, like Pixiemon did."

"Maybe he'll force us to make him dinner." Gomamon reflected. " Well, I guess I can give it a shot."

"Heaven forbid." Joe sighed. 

Tai slammed his fist in his open palm. "So? We have to do something. We'll just do it." He looked at the image of Gennai and asked, " What do you think, Gennai? Do you think we can do it? It wont be too hard right?"

Gennai hesitated for a moment, then harrumphed again. "_I believe you'll do fine._" He looked at each of the DigiDestined in turn. Smiling again, he faced a door that seemed to lead to a closet. "_Go through this door, hand in hand, and you'll be lead to the path to this person's abode. Make sure not to bother him between 4 and 5; that's his nap-time._"

Yamato scoffed and turned the fizzling image. " You sure this is going to help us help T.K.?" he asked.

"_As sure as my back hurts, and I need a nap myself._" Gennai answered. "_ The answers are all in front of you, DigiDestined. I'm confident that you'll succeed._" With those final words, the image of Gennai faded out, and a vertical slash of light appeared in thin air and vanished, taking the image with it.

Edemon looked around anxiously, as the DigiDestined mused over what they were to do. Finally, after a moment, Tai spoke up. " Well, it's not like we have much of a choice." He got up and stretched, then he beckoned to Agumon and went towards the portal Gennai had described. The rest of the DigiDestined and their Digimon got up to follow. Surprisingly, Edemon followed as well.

Kari turned around and looked at the little Digimon with concern. "What are you doing?" she asked. "You can't go with us."

"Sure I can." Edemon retorted.

Sora turned and looked at the two anxiously. She turned to Taichi. "What do you think?" she asked him.

Taichi thought for a moment. Edemon suddenly grew angry. " I'm _not_ your Digimon, I can go where I please, and I choose to go with you…" she turned away from Hikari. "…guys." She added.

Kari shook her head. " Fine then. I hope you know anything could happen. You could end up dead too, if you're not careful." And with that, she walked ahead of Tai and the others. Taichi frowned and shook his head. He could see that Hikari was still in a great deal of pain. Unfortunately, they can't worry about it too much. Takeru was their main concern.

They all took each others hands, and walked into the plain opening in the closet. The air immediately grew thick around them, and the DigiDestined and the others wavered out of existence.

************

Celamon stopped in her tracks. She had been tracking the DigiDestined for a while now, but now suddenly, their trace was gone. It led nowhere. She huffed angrily. She would have to destroy them to prove her strength to her beloved FallenAngemon. Celamon gazed up in the air, seaming to ask a question to the blue sky above her.

Finally, she sighed. She decided that she had no choice, that she would have to use her secondary attack. Dawoemon had told Celamon to use it very rarely, in that it wasn't a normal Digimon attack, and it could leave her weak, if not comatose. That was all a moot point. Celamon had to get to the DigiDestined, and she had to get to them now.

Celamon steadied herself closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Then, concentrating on her prey, she folded her arms across her small chest. Power built up inside her, growing and coalescing until the air seemed to shiver with it. Then, her eye's flaring open, Celamon blasted through her lips, "**Great Divide!**" 

The horizon grew dark, and a large blast of thunder shook the air. Without warning, a pillar of light screamed from the sky and incinerated Celamon on the spot, blasting a hole where she had stood. The whole area shook with the impact, and rocks and other large debris flew throughout the plain. The Digiworld seemed to scream as it was split apart, cleaved entirely into several different pieces. 

The Digital World came back together almost instantly. It was just the same as it was before. That is, except for one major difference.

Celamon was now exactly where she needed to be.

* * *

****

Part 12: The Nameless One.

Celamon stood tightly against the tree. She was dazed and weakened. Her vision blurred in front of her. Every muscle in her body felt like it had been fried stretched and vulcanized. Yet still, feeling all this, she was very very happy.

The DigiDestined walked a few feet below her, right under the tree she was standing in.

She tensed and pulled her small knife from her sheath. Celamon's mind was a blank, if she thought now, she would be distracted. Celamon only had one goal, and she was going to accomplish it now.

She leaped down on the straggling DigiDestined, a small girl in a yellow shirt and pink pants. She screamed and dove out of her path. Celamon clumsily hit the ground and stumbled, even if it was for only a second. 

"_Damn_." She thought to herself, groggily.

The others turned and started towards her. Celamon widened her mouth and blasted out a furious attack at the DigiDestined. "**Hell's Toll!**" she blasted.

The kids split paths, and the attack screamed by them, digging a deep trench in the soil. Agumon and Gabumon whirled at Celamon angrily, and began to glow.

=======================================Warp Digivolve ========================================

****

Agumon Warp Digivolve To…..

"Gabumon Warp Digivolve To….

*

*

****

WARGREYMON!"

METALGARURUMON!"

======================================Warp Digivolve ======================================

The new Digimon stood briefly in front of the stunned Celamon, and then seemed to wink out of existence. Celamon caught there movements, though. WarGreymon aimed a wicked slash at her throat. Celamon moved her head back and caught WarGreymon's arm, flinging him into the nearby bush. WarGreymon went flying into the thicket, but Celamon lost her footing in the counter-attack.

MetalGarurumon took advantage of her mistake, and delivered a bone crushing head-butt to Celamon's back. She gasped and flew through the air, smashing through several trees. Celamon bounded off the ground and high into a nearby tree.

She huffed. Celamon knew their power. These were _Megas_. They had to be taken out of the battle quickly. Celamon drew in most of her power and hurtled it at MetalGarurumon in a hellish blast.

MetalGarurumon's eyes widened, and he tried to dodge the attack. However, the Hell's Toll was too fast, and it nailed the Metal Wolf square in the chest, blasting him several meters into the deep forest.

Celamon smiled and jumped down from the tree. She slipped slightly as she landed. Celamon shook her head. "_That damn **Divide **took too much out of me._" She lamented. _"Still, I should be powerful enough to take out these goons_."

Yamato stood beside Sora and confronted the small Digimon. "Who are you? What's your damage?"

"I'm with T.K-sa…sama." Celamon stuttered silently. She brought her small knife up to bare and frowned. "I've taken it upon myself to get rid of you DigiDestined, by myself."

"Fat chance!" Gomamon piped up. Edemon turned her small head towards him in surprise as he, Palmon and Tentomon began to glow.

****

===================================== Digivolve Into Champions ======================================

****

"Gomamon Digivolve to…

"Palmon Digivolve to…

"Tentomon Digivolve to…

*

*

IKKAKUMON!"

TOGEMON!"

KABUTERIMON!"

======================================Digivolve Into Champions =====================================

****

The Champions attacked Celamon all together. Celamon jumped up as Togemon's powerful fist blasted the ground she was standing on. Celamon whipped her head around and ducked Kabuterimon's sizzling **Electro Shocker**. Celamon turned and drove her knee into Kabuterimon's back as he was whizzing by. The giant bug yelled and crashed into the ground.

Celamon turned suddenly and brought her arms to protect her. She was blasted back by several small explosions, blocking the brunt of Ikkakumon's **Harpoon Torpedo.** She laughed and jumped at Ikkakumon, her blade drawn. Out of no-where a searing red attack smashed her from the air and threw her back.

Celamon looked up in anger. "What the…" she started. Garudomon stood before her, powering up for another attack. Celamon frowned and flew at her.

"**Blade Wing**" Garudomon blasted, and the searing energy screamed through her. Celamon didn't budge, and took the attack head on. The roar of the power invaded her hearing, and she could feel the ends of her petal/hair burning up, but still it wasn't enough to down her. She blazed through the attack and went screaming towards Garudomon.

Ikkakumon saw Celamon push through the **Blade Wing**. Joe started towards him. "We got to finish this Ikkakumon!" he yelled.

"I got ya!" Ikkakumon answered.

======================================= Digivolve Into Ultimate ======================================

****

"Ikkakumon Digivolve to…

*

*

ZUDOMON!"

========================================Digivolve Into Ultimate ======================================

The sequence of events played themselves quickly and so smoothly you'd think it was planned. Garudomon flared her wings and took to the sky, dodging Celamon, who flew straight into WarGreymon's charging forearm.

Celamon was hit hard, but not hard enough. She skidded deep into the ground, and stood to attack with her **Hell's Toll**, when she heard a booming voice through the air.

"**Vulcan's Hammer!" **Zudomon blasted. Joe yelled something to the huge Digimon as the Digichromazoid metal Hammer came crashing down on Celamon's head.

Her last conscious thoughts were of FallenAngemon, and how it'd be better of now that she was dead.

************

Dawoemon had searched the palace numerous times… and she had gotten some of her new servants to assist her in the search, but it was no use. Celamon could not be found anywhere. Dawoemon tsked slightly. She knew the little Digimon wouldn't run off, yet she couldn't for the life of her, figure out where she had disappeared too.

What amazed her most was how Takeru-sama's protector took it. Celamon was only gone for a day, but FallenAngemon acted like she had been missing for months. What was stranger was that he didn't look for her. Instead, he waited, anxiously, as if he had known where Celamon had gone.

Dawoemon pursed her lips. She was tempted to go up to him and ask, but she kinda had this habit of liking to _breath_, and there was no telling what that Dark Angel would do to her in the mood he was in now. She sighed, it didn't really matter. Celamon or no Celamon, her plan was still working. The _Pixel Gate_ was almost uncovered. Now the task was the move from Sector to the _Gate_ itself.

"So we're leaving?" T.K. smiled, upon hearing the news. "Great! I was getting bored here." He turned to his protector. " Isn't that great Fallen?"

Fallen wasn't paying any attention. T.K. frowned. "Fallen?" he repeated. FallenAngemon turned to him, startled, and started nervously.

"Uh, yes, Takeru-san. That's great news." He said silently.

"Geez, Fallen." T.K. smiled. "You're acting as if your head isn't plugged in. What is it, you worried about Celamon?"

Fallen was startled at Takeru's observance. T.K. smiled further. "Ah, don't worry." He said, patting Fallen on the arm. "I don't know where she went, but I know she'll be back. She likes anyway."

Fallen stumbled. "W…wha???"

Takeru ignored his friend. He turned to the tall plant-mon. "So when are we going?" he asked.

"Immediately, if it pleases you, Takeru-sama." Dawoemon bowed. T.K. smiled and hopped in place.

"It sure does!" he nodded enthusiastically. "Let's go! Finally, one step closer to saving the Digiworld!"

Dawoemon laughed inwardly. "_One step closer to taking it as my own_." She mused.

************

"How much longer?" Joe groaned. They had been walking for about 2 hours now. Tai had opted not to take a break yet, feeling as though the one they were looking for was close. The others had agreed, but now they questioned their choice. They were tired, and they were carrying extra weight.

Sora turned to Joe and smiled. "Joe, we don't know where this guy lives, how would we know if we were close to him or not?"

"I dunno." Joe sighed. "Intuition. Guess? Gumption?" Gomamon laughed and Joe looked down at him. "Maybe you can smell him."

"I can't smell anything past all this sweat." Gomamon held his nose and laughed. " You guys all need a bath."

"Are you implying that I smell, Gomamon?" Mimi said heatedly. Gomamon sweated and ducked behind his DigiDestined. 

Palmon sighed and patted Mimi on her back. "The truth is, we all kinda smell." She said innocently.

Mimi grimaced and pouted. "Oh… we should have stayed at Gennai's cottage longer. Maybe we could have taken a bath."

"That would have been ideal." Joe sighed again. Of course, he had reason to be a little upset. Since he was the tallest kid, he had the responsibility of dragging around Celamon's unconscious body on his back. She didn't weigh much, but he was still…concerned at what would happen if she woke up on him. Lillymon had assured his fears though, wrapping Celamon up in several of her **Flower Wreaths**. Joe had to trust her word in that when she did wake up, she wouldn't be able to move at all, much less attack them.

Joe still wondered why he told Zudomon to ease up at the last minute and spare her life. There was something about her, something in the way she knew T.K…something in the way she stammered. Something in him told Joe that she shouldn't die, that she could be a great help in reclaiming Takeru to the DigiDestined. The others were a bit skeptic, Koushiro was very concerned about this being a trap, but Mimi agreed with Joe. He was glad that she did, he didn't like to be alone in his decisions. The others trusted Joe enough to go along with his decision, but he was stuck having to carry Celamon along.

Taichi was walking alongside Hikari. Edemon "walked" silently between them. She kept looking up to Kari, as if to ask a question. Tai didn't like the way the small Digimon seemed to be concentrating on his sister. Hikari was under enough stress as it is. Still, Tai was glad to have Sora and Biyomon watching her.

Taichi slowed and stopped. He turned to the others. "The air smells a bit different around here." He said slowly. "Like it's been…I dunno…lived in or something."

"Tai's definitely right!" Agumon agreed. " I think we're getting real close to whoever it is Gennai wants us to see."

Sora looked down at Biyomon questioningly. "Maybe we should break for a while." She asked.

"I say, if we're close, we keep going." Yamato spoke up. Joe looked at him tiredly and slumped Celamon to the ground. Mimi sighed and fell to her behind.

"I'm tired Matt." She whined. She looked up at him seriously, her brownish-red eyes intense. "Really Matt. Just a little break, it's all I ask." Mimi pleaded.

"It certainly wouldn't hurt." Koushiro said. He sat on the ground, still looking at Yamato, ready to get up if Matt insisted. As tired as Izzy was, he knew the urgency Matt was feeling, and wouldn't deny it to him.

Yamato looked at him and the others and sighed. "Maybe a little rest." he said tiredly. He slumped to the ground and crossed his legs, relieving the heat and tension from his aching feet.

The others followed. Groans of relief and sighs wavered all around the small group. They didn't realize how tired they were. Maybe it was because they ate too much at Gennai's house.

"Why am I still alive?" a quiet voice spoke aloud. Joe jumped slightly, then relaxed and looked down at Celamon. She was still lying on the ground, but her eyes were wide opened.

Gomamon growled. "You'd better thank Joe! If it wasn't for him, I would've crushed you like a bug!"

"Hey!" Tentomon buzzed.

Gomamon grimaced. "Present Company Excepted" He added quickly.

Celamon glanced at Joe. "You kept me alive?" she said weakly.

Joe sweated a little, and scratched the back of his head. "Uh…yeah." He admitted.

Celamon sighed. "If I get the chance, I'm gonna kill you for that." she muttered.

Gomamon pounced on her. "You have no right to threaten him. Apologize or else!" he shouted.

Celamon smiled. "Or else what?" she said faintly. "You'll kill me? Please, you'd be doing me a favor."

"Oh shut-up." Hikari said suddenly. She got up and sat next to the incapacitated Digimon. "You don't mean that. You don't want to die, I don't think anyone does. You're just afraid."

Celamon turned her eyes away from her. Edemon glided near Hikari as she continued.

"Dying is no good, believe me, it's no good to anyone." Kari sighed. "There has to be something to live for, something…or someone. There has to be someone out there that'd be sad if you died."

"No." Celamon said. "There isn't." She strained her arms and legs against the flowery bonds. As weak as they seemed, the pinned her down against the ground. She was powerless.

"What about T.K.?" Hikari said. " You mentioned him. Do you know him? Maybe your friends. Wouldn't he be sad if you died?"

"The same T.K. who obliterated your Angewomon?" Celamon grinned. " I don't think he can be sighed. He's hardly like you anyway."

Yamato stood up and stormed towards her, furious. He grabbed Celamon and lifted her up, his fist clenched. "You shut-up about Angewomon…" he ground through clenched teeth, ", and you shut-up about T.K!"

"Enough." A low voice resonated through the clearing.

The Digimon stood up, but it was too late. A tall figure stood right in the middle of the group. He was tall, around 7 feet. His arms and legs were lanky. He wore a black tunic and a tattered pair of gray pants. His arms were glistening in Digichromazoid metal. His face was dark, there was no nose, and a small slit for a mouth. He had large human-like ears and wore a cowl that enveloped his face and ended in long "tail" with a metal orb on the end. His eyes burned with a certain power.

Tai couldn't figure it out…but the way this Digimon walked, talked…even looked…it's as if he were, mismatched.

He turned towards Yamato, and the boy dropped Celamon back to the ground. The Digimon nodded and turned towards the other kids. "The DigiDestined." He said simply.

Izzy was taken aback. "Y-yeah." He started. "How do you know?"

"Who else could you be?"

Izzy smiled. "Of course. Sherlock Holmes said it himself. _'Take away the impossibilities, and whatever you have left, no matter how improbable, has to be the truth.'_" He stepped up to the tall Digimon. "You deduced that we were the DigiDestined. Very well, I'm going to deduce that you were the one Gennai sent us after."

"Gennai?" The other sighed. "That idiot." 

"I don't know if he'd appreciate you calling him that." Mimi frowned at him.

The other laughed. "He knows he's an idiot. All the young ones are. You're idiots too. That doesn't mean you wont do well, it just means you're young."

"Young?" Taichi said doubtfully. "How old are you then?"

The other sighed. "Old enough not to be insulted by such idiotic questions." He rasped. Enough of this. Come with me, and bring the tied up idiot." He said, pointing at Celamon. She gritted her teeth and gave the tall Digimon a cold stare.

Joe picked the bonded Digimon up. Yamato began to follow the stranger, and then stopped. "Well, you know us, we're the DigiDestined. Who are you?" he asked.

The strange stopped, turned slowly towards Yamato and smiled. "I've gone by many names. Like Gennai, I had a name, not common to most battle Digimon. And yet…." He turned away. " You may call me, _Allmon_."

The other Digimon recognized the name instantly, and their blood all ran as cold as ice.

__ ****

Next: THE TEST


End file.
